The British Formula One star Lewis Hamilton has apologised after being caught by police doing a burnout in his car in Melbourne last night.
Former F1 champion Hamilton had his Mercedes impounded by police under Victorian anti-hoon laws for an incident as he was leaving the Australian Grand Prix circuit in Albert Park.
In a statement released by his racing team McLaren, Hamilton says he was driving in an over-exuberant manner and, as a result, was stopped by the police.... what he did was silly and he wants to apologise for it.
The 25-year-old had his late model silver Mercedes seized by police to be impounded, and he was charged on summons with improper use of a vehicle.
The car will be eligible for release on Monday morning.
The incident came just hours after Hamilton recorded the fastest lap time in practice for tomorrow's Grand Prix.
Qualifying is today.
It is not the first time Hamilton has fallen foul of the law over a driving incident.
Three years ago, French police impounded a car he was driving after he was caught speeding at 196km/h on a motorway - more than 60km/h over the speed limit.
He had his driving licence suspended for a month.
