16/03/2016
NEWS STORY
Lewis Hamilton has escaped punishment following an incident in New Zealand ahead of the 2016 season opener.
The three-time world champion posted a number of videos of himself riding his Harley Davidson in New Zealand on Snapchat, the social media site.
However, with the use of mobile phones while driving illegal in New Zealand since 2009, the issue was brought to the attention of the police.
Having reviewed the videos however, the police opted not to take further action, claiming a lack of "sufficient evidence".
"Auckland City Police will be taking no further action in relation to recent media publicity about Lewis Hamilton and his motorcycle journey in Auckland," said a police spokesperson. "The video footage available does not provide us with sufficient enough evidence that an offence has occurred."
In 2010, whilst with McLaren, Hamilton was fined after performing a number of 'hoons' in front of fans as he left the Albert Park circuit.
Previously, in 2007 he had his driving licence suspended for one month in France for speeding on a motorway, whilst last year he crashed his Zonda supercar in Monaco having admitted to "heavy partying".
Whilst the Mercedes driver might have escaped punishment by the New Zealand authorities, it will be interesting to see if the FIA is quite as lenient, road safety being one of (president) Jean Todt's key quests in life.
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