F1 champion LEWIS HAMILTON "is facing demands that he be banned from returning to China" after his "bullying" and "sexist" celebration of his victory in the country’s grand prix on Sunday, according to Lewis & Eason of the LONDON TIMES. The British driver "aimed champagne into the face and ear of a race hostess on the winner’s podium in an act condemned by many ordinary Chinese as a disgrace and a matter of shame for Britain." The incident, "images of which have been angrily pored over by outraged Chinese, shows Hamilton directing a jet of foam into the face and ear of one of the Chinese hostesses standing alongside the top three finishers on the podium." However, even as some called for Hamilton never to be let back into China, "others defended him" (LONDON TIMES, 4/15). In London, Mullin & Cockroft wrote a leading group that campaigns against sexism has condemned the behavior of the driver as "selfish and inconsiderate," saying he should be forced to apologize for "specially directing" the bubbly into the woman's face. ROZ HARDIE, CEO of Object, a campaign on media sexism and "sex object culture," said, "The photographs appear to show that the woman is not just being splashed, but that the champagne is being very specifically directed into her face, which does not look like a voluntary piece of horseplay on her part" (DAILY MAIL, 4/13). In Shanghai, Ma Yue wrote the Shanghai F1 grid girl said that "she was not feeling offended" after Hamilton sprayed champagne toward her at the awards ceremony. The grid girl, LIU SIYING, a 23-year-old who graduated from Shanghai Institute of Visual Art, said that "she actually did not mind having been sprayed by the Briton." Liu: "It lasted for only one or two seconds, and I did not think too much about it at all. I think some foreign media are more sensitive about the topic compared to local media" (SHANGHAI DAILY, 4/15).
