Mumbai: Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 Formula 1 champion, is all set to scorch the picturesque Marine Drive in his racing car here on September 16, a week before the Singapore Grand Prix.
Hamilton, the 2008 World champion, will run his McLaren Mercedes MP4-27 car along the curves of the illuminated Queen’s Necklace, which will be made to look like an F1 track, complete with a grandstand and pit garage, a media release said on Wednesday.
The English driver said he was excited to race again in India after his visit and drive in Bangalore last year.
“I always love coming to India and I am really excited to be coming to the city of Mumbai this time. I am simply overwhelmed by the incredible excitement shown by the people of this country.
“I had a wonderful experience in Bangalore last year and this year I am hoping that the excitement will be faster, smarter and better in Mumbai,” Hamilton said.
Some lucky people will have the privilege of riding with the 27-year-old former F1 champion and a chance of visiting the pit garage, the release added.
This announcement comes after an exciting, if controversial weekend for Hamilton, who besides being involved in massive crash with Romain Grosjean at the first corner of the Belgian Grand Prix, was also the source of damaging posts on Twitter.
Besides tweeting some acronyms and colloquial language that represent swear words, Hamilton was also guilty of posting photos that displayed telemetry data from his car, as well as team mate Jenson Button’s.
He was immediately asked by his team to delete the photos, which revealed data that is usually kept a closely-guarded secret by teams. The Briton also deleted his posts including the swear words.
Karthikeyan to miss Monza practice session
Meanwhile, it was announced that Narain Karthikeyan will make way for Ma Qing Hua when Hispania Racing Team hands the Chinese driver his F1 debut at the first practice session at the Italian GP.
Karthikeyan will resume his duties from the second session onwards.
“This is a very important step towards my dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver. I’m very excited about driving at a circuit like Monza,” Qing Hua said.
D’Ambrosio to sit in for banned Grosjean
As a result of being found guilty for causing a reckless crash at last weekend’s Belgian GP, Grosjean was banned for one race and his Lotus team have decided to use reserve driver, Jerome D’Ambrosio in his place at Monza.
D’Ambrosio was the automatic choice given that as reserve driver, he is familiar with the workings of the car. (Agencies)