Hamilton slammed for spraying Formula One hostess with champagne (Update)

UPDATE A Chinese Grand Prix podium hostess who had champagne sprayed in her face by race winner Lewis Hamilton has played down the incident after the Formula One world champion was accused of sexist bullying.

"It lasted for only one or two seconds, and I didn't think too much about it," Liu Siying, a 22-year-old graduate of the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art who works for a real estate company, told the Shanghai Daily.

"I think some foreign media are more sensitive about the topic than local media," she added. "I was just told by my employer to stand on the podium, and that's what I did."

There will be no champagne to spray in Bahrain this weekend, however, with the Middle East's oldest grand prix offering bottles of non-alcoholic rosewater known as Waard instead.

Hamilton sprays champagne into the eyeballs of cute Chinese podium girl

04/13/15 Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton has been criticized for again spraying champagne over a visibly uncomfortable hostess after claiming victory in the Chinese Grand Prix.

As Hamilton stood on the top tier of the Shanghai podium on Sunday he unleashed a torrent of champagne straight into the hostess' face to celebrate his victory, the second time he has done so this season.

The act has been condemned by anti-sexism campaigners as "selfish" and "inconsiderate" who argue it points to the wider culture of sexism in the motor racing world.

"It is surely a very difficult position to be a grid girl and she would have had little option but to stand there and take it," Rox Hardie, the chief executive of anti-sexism group, Object, told the MailOnline.

"That is something of which he [Hamilton] should be aware. But instead, he appears to have abused her position."

"Motor racing appears to unnecessarily portray women as sexualized objects and that probably makes it even harder for the women to stand up for themselves," said Hardie. "We would hope people in the industry would be respectful to these women".

Since the practice was first adopted in 1967 Formula One drivers on the podium have traditionally only sprayed themselves, teammates and their crews. Dailylife.com