Remember Hamilton’s hoontastic shenanigans during the Australian Grand Prix weekend in March? The verdict from Oz is in: Hamilton was fined $440.
This makes McLaren’s 2008 F1 world champion officially a hoon, as he was indicted on charges of improper use of a motor vehicle, specifically for doing burnouts in a
borrowed Benz, which falls under Section 84C of the state of Victoria’s Road Safety Act 1986, commonly known as the hoon law.
In a hilarious quote supplied to the Guardian by his lawyer Sandip Mukerjea, Hamilton suffered “embarrassment, humiliation and distress” as a result of the incident.
The fine of A$500—US$440 at today’s exchange rate—raises an interesting question: can a person who makes the kind of money a heavily sponsored modern F1 champion like Hamilton does conceive of that sum? Don’t laugh. Imagine, if you’re a person with a regular human income, paying for goods or services in the sub-cent range. It’s anything but trivial.
Image Credit: Miguel Villagran/Getty Images, Alex Hughes