Formula One order Lewis Hamilton to scrap video clip from social media

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Photo / AP

Lewis Hamilton has been ordered to take down an on-board video clip from social media because it broke guidelines set out by Formula One's new owners, Liberty Media.

Liberty have encouraged drivers to reach out to fans by posting behind-the-scenes selfies and videos online, with Hamilton one of the keenest to comply.

But footage of his pole lap in China nine days ago was deemed unacceptable by Liberty because on-track action is the preserve of official broadcasters.

The Daily Mail understands that Liberty representatives spoke to Mercedes and members of Hamilton's personal management team to ask they remove it from his Instagram account. Hamilton immediately agreed to the request.

Liberty said: "Formula One has issued a new set of social media guidelines allowing teams and drivers to film and record their activities to bring the sport closer to the fans.

"However, F1 does not want drivers posting 'international feed footage' as this has been licensed to broadcaster partners, in many cases exclusively.

"Whenever a mistake is made, teams and drivers are asked to take down any relevant footage."

It is not the first time Hamilton has had to remove a controversial video. In 2015, Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda told him to delete a recording of him firing a machine gun at a Colorado shooting range on the same day as a gun attack on a train in France.

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff told Hamilton he needed "to be aware of what is happening out there in the world."

Despite the latest transgression Hamilton resumed videoing around Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, giving his followers a guided tour of his private driver room in the Mercedes hospitality and engineering area.

He was more concerned afterwards about having lost to Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, partly through a few unforced errors, most glaringly blocking Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in the pit lane, for which he received a five-second penalty.

Hamilton now trails the German by seven points after three races, with Russia coming up next a week on Sunday.