- Lewis Hamilton took phone to podium after winning Japanese Grand Prix
- Daniel Ricciardo had finished third in Suzuka behind Max Verstappen
- Red Bull driver managed to prise Hamilton’s phone away while on the podium
- Hamilton was distracted after taking a liking to Takuma Sato’s Indy 500 ring
- Brit tried on the ex-F1 driver’s prize for winning the famous race earlier this year
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Lewis Hamilton was close to faultless as he stormed to victory at the Japanese Grand Prix but at least one of his rivals managed to get the better of him at Suzuka.
Having seen title rival Sebastian Vettel retire early on, Hamilton controlled the race before sealing a fairly comfortable victory ahead of Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
The Brit took his phone onto the podium to celebrate, and after posing for a short video with Ricciardo made the ultimate mistake in then leaving his device unlocked.
Daniel Ricciardo managed to grab Lewis Hamilton’s phone before pulling silly faces
While still on the Suzuka podium, the Red Bull driver then uploaded the pictures to Instagram
That was the only invitation the Australian needed to take full advantage and with the Mercedes driver unaware, Ricciardo pulled a series of silly faces before uploading them onto the race winner’s Instagram account.
It sees Ricciardo’s playful antics within the F1 paddock taken to a new level, with the 28-year-old famed for drinking champagne out of his shoe on the podium – also known as ‘shoey’.
It’s not the first time either that Riccirado’s antics in front of a camera have had the F1 world in stitches having previously photobombed Valtteri Bottas at Silverstone earlier this year.
Hamilton took his phone onto the podium to celebrate his win in Japan along with Ricciardo
But the Australian soon found a spare moment to take the phone out of the Brit’s sight
Paddock joker Ricciardo had photobombed Valtteri Bottas earlier this year at Silverstone
Hamilton’s concerns over his phone may have been in the back of his mind after the Brit became attracted to the ‘bling’ worn by podium interviewer Takuma Sato.
| DRIVER | TEAM | WINS | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 8 | 306 |
| 2. Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 4 | 247 |
| 3. Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 2 | 234 |
| 4. Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1 | 192 |
| 5. Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 0 | 148 |
| 6. Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1 | 111 |
The former F1 driver was wearing the prize ring awarded to him after winning the Indy 500 this year.
Hamilton couldn’t resist trying it on for size before hinting of a possible visit to the ‘Brickyard’ at Indianapolis later on in his career.
First though the Mercedes driver’s attentions will be on sealing a fourth world championship.
The 32-year-old’s Suzuka triumph means that with four races left he can seal another crown if he outscores Vettel by 16 points in the next race at the Circuit of the Americas in the United States.
Hamilton’s distractions came as a result of an attraction to the ring worn by Takuma Sato
Hamilton tried on the ring awarded to Sato for winning this year’s Indy 500