Lewis Hamilton has given an explosive interview to the BBC in the aftermath of a difficult Monaco Grand Prix for the Englishman.
In an incident-filled race, Hamilton came together with a number of drivers in the race, crossing the line a provisional sixth.
But it was post-race where Hamilton drew the most attention, giving an interview to the BBC’s Lee McKenzie in which he:
– accused Felipe Massa of turning into him in their coming-together, an incident for which most onlookers would have blamed Hamilton himself
– slammed his team for not being ready when he came in for his first stop
– blamed Pastor Maldonado for their contact, another incident for which blame could go to Hamilton
– questioned why he is summoned to the stewards so often, and joked that it was because of the colour of his skin
“Out of six races, I’ve been to the stewards five times. It’s a joke,” Hamilton told the BBC. “It’s an absolute frickin’ joke.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m black. That’s what Ali G says. I don’t know,” he added, tongue-in-cheek.
As for the lap 34 Massa coming-together, Hamilton denied he had been at fault.
“I was quite a lot quicker than Massa,” he added. “I went up the inside, and the guy turned so early and just turned into me. So I tried to go over the kerb to avoid him and we were stuck together.
“And of course I get the penalty, which is usual. He [Massa] held me up in qualifying and I got the penalty. He turned into me, and I got the penalty.”
Hamilton also appeared to blame Pastor Maldonado for the crash three laps before the chequered flag.
“I went up the inside of Maldonado and you can see on the [TV] screen that he turned in a good car length too early to stop me overtaking him and he crashed into me.
“It’s just ridiculous. These drivers are absolutely frickin’ ridiculous. Just stupid.”
