Liberty Media may have expressed a desire to bring the sport into the 21st century but Lewis Hamilton has managed to land himself in hot water after posting an on-board video of a lap around the Shanghai circuit.
The new owners of F1 have been vocal in their plans to make greater use of the previously neglected social media, entrusting Ross Brawn with the task of implementing new avenues of fan interaction.
It is therefore a surprise that Hamilton, an avid online sharer, was asked to take down a video he had uploaded of his pole position lap from the Chinese Grand Prix.
A spokesman for Liberty Media was quick to clarify the situation, explaining that although they have encouraged teams to film such footage, some of these videos are classified under licencing deals between the sport and broadcasters around the world.
“This season, Formula One has issued a new set of social media guidelines allowing teams and drivers to film and record their activities so as to bring the sport closer to the fans,” he said.
“All teams and drivers have embraced this approach with enthusiasm, resulting in a surge of interest in F1 across social media.
“However, F1 does not want drivers posting international feed footage as this has been licensed to broadcasters’ partners, in many cases exclusively.
“All teams and drivers have a clear understating of this and whenever a mistake is made, teams and drivers are asked to take down any relevant footage.”