Lewis Hamilton says celebration was a 'fun thing' as Chinese model defends the F1 world champion after spraying champagne in her face

Liu Siying said she 'did not think too much about it' after Hamilton was criticised by a campaign group against sexism

Hamilton was criticised for spraying Chinese model Liu Siying with champagne (Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton has defended his podium antics after being criticised for spraying a Chinese model with champagne following his victory in Shanghai last weekend, claiming that it was a "fun thing".

Hamilton’s comments ahead of the weekend’s grand prix in Bahrain come after the model, Liu Siying, played down any problem with the celebrations earlier today. Having held off Nico Rosberg to win his second race of the year, a clearly delighted Hamilton picked up his magnum of champagne t to celebrate, taking aim at Siying for a few seconds before continuing with Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel.

Asked about the incident that has caused controversy for the first time in the sport at the drivers’ press conference in Bahrain, Hamilton said: "I hadn't really heard too much about it until today.

"Obviously when you arrive (at the circuit) you get a debrief as to what has happened during the week, so fortunately for me it has not overshadowed my week.

"Ultimately it was a great weekend, and generally my actions are through excitement.

Lewis Hamilton appeared at the drivers' press conference on Thursday (Getty Images)

"This is Formula One - the pinnacle of motor sport - and I'd just won a grand prix for the team.

"You should see it was a kind of a fun thing. I would never ever intend to disrespect or try to embarrass someone like that.

"I don't really know the reasons why people have brought these things up.

"This is a sport so many people love, and the more we show character and fun it reflects how great this sport is, and that's what I try to do.

"It hasn't affected me, and it's nice to know the lady kind of wrote in. If she had wrote in and said she was really unhappy then perhaps I would be more concerned."

Siying had earlier defended the two-time world champion, who had been criticised by Object – a campaign group against sexism – and labelled “selfish and inconsiderate” while also asking for him to apologise.

Siying told the Shanghai Daily: "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.

"I was just told by my employer to stand on the podium, and that's what I did."