Formula One's new owners have aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Lewis Hamilton after Britain's triple world champion opted to swerve Wednesday night's parade through London.
Hamilton had been expected to lead the billing in front of his home crowd as F1 takes over the capital for a demonstration run in the build-up to Sunday's British Grand Prix.
But Hamilton, who trails championship leader Sebastian Vettel by 20 points after finishing fourth in Austria last Sunday, will be the only absentee of this year's 20 drivers after he chose to go on holiday in Greece rather than appear in front of swathes of British supporters.
"We invited teams and drivers to join us at F1 Live London and we had a fantastic response from all the teams and 19 of the drivers," a Formula One spokesperson said on Wednesday.
"Today will be a great day for London's Formula One fans, seeing race cars and drivers close-up, sharing the passion for F1 ahead of the British Grand Prix."
Liberty Media, which took over the sport in January, has worked for a number of months on the spectacular demo which will see cars run along Whitehall from Trafalgar Square. They are understood to be surprised and disappointed by Hamilton's no-show.
Hamilton's timing for the break is curious given that the British Grand Prix, a race he described earlier this month as the most important on the calendar, is just four days away.
Formula One also heads for its traditional four-week summer break next month in which the sport is effectively on shutdown for a fortnight.
"To my loving fans, I can't wait to see you in Silverstone,'' Hamilton said in a short message on his Twitter account yesterday. "Until then, I'm away on a two day break. God Bless you all. Love, Lewis.''
The 32-year-old then uploaded a short video in which he appeared to be partying with friends.
When asked by Press Association Sport why Hamilton would be absent from the London demo, a Mercedes spokesperson said: "As Lewis posted on social media, he is on a short break until Silverstone.''
Hamilton's former rival and defending champion Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion who has flown in from California, and Vettel will all take part in the event.
Hamilton is due to appear in front of the media at Silverstone on Thursday ahead of his home race.
Source: PA
