Lewis Hamilton stressed he was not distracted by his recent brush with the law as he produced a lacklustre qualifying performance for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
The 25-year-old found himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons again when he was caught by police performing a burnout in his Mercedes road car shortly after leaving the Albert Park circuit.
His car was immediately impounded for 48 hours and he is expected to be charged with improper use of a vehicle, which could result in a fine following an appearance in court.
The incident came after he had set the fastest lap of the day during practice and Hamilton had been feeling optimistic ahead of a race he last won on the way to the world title in 2008.
However, the gathering clouds prior to qualifying served as a bad omen for the Briton as, despite a decent display in Q1, he surprisingly crashed out in Q2 and will start from 11th on the grid.
That performance naturally prompted suggestions he had been affected by the events of the previous night but Hamilton stressed that was not the case.
"It was silly but it is one of those things you learn from," he said. "It was not a good experience but I move forward.
"We all make mistakes and I apologise."
The offence was not Hamilton's first after he was caught speeding at 121mph in December 2007 in France and this latest incident attracted the kind of negative press he was hoping to avoid in Australia following last year's infamous "lie-gate" scandal.
