Lewis ‘Dickhead’ Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton’s theatrics landed him in trouble as he was fined by the police for showboating on a Mercedes-Benz E500 while in Australia. The British driver, currently in the employment of McLaren-Mercedes Formula one team, was fined US $444 after being stopped by the local police.
The 2010 Australian Grand Prix was surely a race to forget for Hamilton who came sixth and more embarrassingly, 29.8 seconds behind his underdog team mate Jenson Button who claimed the pole. With his off track behavior, the McLaren-Mercedes driver has been dragged into the limelight for all the wrong reasons.
The embarrassment for him doesn’t end here, as the 2008 champion was called a ‘dickhead’ by the Australian Politician Tim Pallas, who happens to be the roads minister for Victoria. The rather blunt title is not down to some deep routed prejudice against superstars; it is part of a government backed campaign for safe driving which carries the bold slogan ‘don’t be a dickhead’
The driver didn’t personally appear at his hearing in Melbourne, probably because he had already confessed beforehand to the offense of reckless driving and was thus convicted with the guilty plea. Thus, an offense that took place back in March has finally been accounted for. It can be argued that such high profile superstars, given their fame and influence, do merit a higher degree of responsibility on their part. Commenting on the whole saga, Hamilton claimed, "I have found this very upsetting because I am passionate about road safety and I do voluntarily carry out activities to promote international road safety, particularly among young adults."
Australian driver and fellow Formula1 compatriot, Mark Webber offered a more empathic front by criticizing the strict laws of Victoria that leave little margin for cutting loose a time or two – ‘A Nanny State’. While some might consider it a bold move standing up for a foreign driver and championship rival; putting the sense of national road security in the backseat was rather naïve of the Aussie driver.
There was also a group of people (plausible to assume NOT Australian residents) which insisted that the incident was exaggerated on epic proportions as a means to discredit the McLaren-Mercedes driver and in turn put off his game for the ‘Australian’ local Mark Webber to capitalize in terms of the fight for the championship. There is also one school of thought that believes that marketing such petty bindings brings out a rather constrained image of the country and would hamper tourism in Australia.
However, as encouraging as it may seem, seeing that even a Formula one superstar is no exception to the law, the maximum bookable amount with respect to the crime at hand of five-hundred Australian dollars (£290) is still a meager drop in the pool of the £55,000 a day earned by Hamilton. The objectivity of law can be ironic sometimes. While, it aims to treat everybody equally, there are still some people for whom a financial deduction exercises little self restrain for the future.
In this situation, can there not be a more creative, more subjective punishment handed out which recognizes each offender as a separate individual? Could something along the lines of community service prove to be a far more tailor-made punishment for a media icon like Lewis Hamilton or is the idea of a British national sweating like a common man on Australian soil still too demeaning and politically incorrect to even ponder about?
"The publicity caused by this incident was immense and that in itself has been a form of punishment for me", commented Hamilton.
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