Lewis Hamilton gets slammed all over the internet after confusing public roads with the racetrack. The seven-time F1 World Champion rented a Nissan Skyline GT-R and drove it like he stole it around Tokyo. JDM much?
No, ladies and gentlemen, this is not The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. It’s just Lewis Hamilton thinking he’s a stuntman for the movie. Well, not everyone appreciates such stunts, as the Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver is now facing backlash for irresponsible driving.
The late-night drive took place in Tokyo and ended up on Instagram, posted by the pro driver himself. “I only like to drive on track, but I make exceptions.” The exception was a 1998 R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R with a manual. One that seems to have blown up in smoke while Lewis was doing donuts in a closed car park. He then laughs at the camera held by his personal photographer, Timothy McGurr. 1.7 million people reacted to the video. Most comments are positive, but there are people slamming the 37-year old British driver.
Snapshots from the video show up the speedometer going all the way to 160 km/h (99 mph) on public roads while he’s plowing an express road. That would be 60 km/h (37 mph) over the speed limit. Only some sectors of that road allow driving at 120 km/h (75 mph).
He got away with it this time. But he’s got quite some stories with the police. Back in 2007, got a one-month driving ban in France, after police caught him doing 198 km/h (123 mph) in a Mercedes-Benz CLK and started chasing him.
Three years later, following a donuts session in a car park in Melbourne, police impounded his car. “I was silly,” Lewis Hamilton admitted after the incident. Speaking of that “I don’t like driving” part… Can’t fool us with it, champ!
One thing is for sure. The prices of the 1990s Nissan Skyline GT-Rs on the second-hand market will now be skyrocketing.
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