Lewis Hamilton refused to take questions from the media after qualifying second for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix due to “disrespectful” criticism of his behaviour during a news conference two days ago.
“The smiles on your faces will probably be no longer,” the reigning F1 world champion told reporters after qualifying at the Suzuka circuit. “I am not actually here to answer your questions, I have decided.”
The Briton, whose title hopes were dealt a serious blow at the last race in Malaysia when he was forced to retire holding a comfortable lead 16 laps from the finish, cut a distracted figure in Thursday’s mandatory news conference organised by the sport’s governing body.
The 31-year-old spent much of the time on his phone uploading amusing pictures created of his fellow drivers seated around him using Snapchat filters, drawing heavy criticism from journalists on social media.
“The other day was a super-lighthearted thing, and … if you felt that I was disrespectful, it was honestly not the intention. But what was more disrespectful was what was then written worldwide,” he said, adding that he was referring only to certain sections of the press.
“I don’t really plan on sitting here many more times for these kind of things so my apologies,” he said before walking out of the Mercedes hospitality hut.
Hamilton heads into the race 23 points behind Rosberg and, with five rounds to go, needs to revive his flagging title prospects with a third successive win at Suzuka.
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