Lewis Hamilton slammed for ‘forgetting his UK roots’

Lewis Hamilton has been accused of forgetting his roots after making derogatory comments about his home town of Stevenage.

Comparing his upbringing to Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg before last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, multi-millionaire Formula One driver Hamilton got himself into trouble.

"I come from a not-great place in Stevenage and lived on a couch in my dad’s apartment," he said.

"And Nico grew up in Monaco with jets and hotels and boats and all these kinds of things – so the hunger is different."

Rosberg and Hamilton have become embroiled in a public dispute despite being on the same team. They now both live in Monaco.

Rosberg did not let Hamilton's recent behaviour bother him as he took pole and victory for Mercedes in Monaco.

But local council members seem to be a lot more perturbed about the Hamilton outburst.

“I can’t see how he can say such things about the place where he grew up,” councillor Phillip Bibby said. “He needs to remember his roots. His comments are unfair."

Sharon Taylor - Stevenage Borough Council’s leader - said: “Of course we are very proud of Lewis – he’s an incredible example of what people from Stevenage can do.

“But it would be a lot better if he could speak up for the place he comes from. We would love to talk to him about promoting the town.”

It is not the first time Hamilton has attracted adverse publicity for attacking the place where he lives.

He resides in Monaco after a five-year spell in Switzerland. He said Switzerland was too "boring" for him after living in Zurich and Geneva.

He was also slammed in 2008 after claiming he was moving out of the UK to detract from unwanted attention to his private life.

However, much to many Brits' anger, it later emerged that he had moved from Britain to avoid paying around £4m a year in tax.

- Eurosport