“Such driving is strictly prohibited”: Japanese car rental agency responds to Lewis Hamilton taking their $188,500 R34 for spin

Tanish Chachra | 25/11/2022
"Such driving is strictly prohibited": Japanese car rental agency responds to Lewis Hamilton taking their $188,500 R34 for spin

On Wednesday, Lewis Hamilton released a video of taking a Nissan Skyline R34 for a spin on the Tokyo Expressway on his Instagram. The flashy editing and playing Pump the Brakes by Dom Dolla in the background made it a very attractive video.

Hamilton captioned it: “I only like to drive on track, but I make exceptions.” Soon, his post got millions of likes from his vast fanbase following him on social media.

The car was being driven at tremendous speed, and Hamilton was also making donuts out of his car on the expressway. The gearbox was also caught spitting smoke. Thus, these stunts could now land Hamilton in trouble.

Also read: Nico Rosberg questions Daniel Ricciardo’s downfall in Formula 1 since leaving Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton didn’t take permission from us

Almost 48 hours after Hamilton posted his video, a rental car agency took to Twitter to speak against Hamilton’s stunts. By their words, it seems the car belongs to them, and Hamilton violated their terms with all the stunts.

“This is a car from Omoshiro Rent-A-Car, but it was not taken with permission from our company. Such driving is strictly prohibited,” said a Twitter account claiming to be the organization that owns the car (translated by Google).

Japanese authorities are known to be strict about their laws and regulations, but it’s unlikely Hamilton will face any significant hiccup in that area. However, this company can also force legal action on Hamilton if they wish.

The car taken on the spin by Hamilton is the legendary Nissan Skyline R34. The most preserved versions of this car can cost up to $188,500. So indeed, it’s not a minor deal.

Not the first time Hamilton got in trouble

In 2010, Hamilton came in trouble with the Melbourne police when he was caught exuberantly using a Mercedes road car. The police pulled the Briton after he was caught doing burnouts.

The 25-year-old race driver called himself silly for the incident. In 2007, he was also banned from driving in France for a month when he crossed the speed limit of 121 mph on the road.

After more than a decade, will Hamilton once again get in trouble for his antics on the road? Well, that remains to be seen how the incident proceeds with the officials.

Also read: Lewis Hamilton was joining Ferrari; what stopped it?

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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