While one of his Mercedes bosses was delivering a second warning about his behaviour within a week, Lewis Hamilton was posting a bizarre selfie video with his other boss, in which he boasted: ‘We’ve had lots of vodka.’

Hamilton, the triple world champion, might have been expected to be at the Autosport Awards at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, where he won two of the leading awards in his absence.

But rather than attend Sunday’s black-tie dinner, Hamilton appeared on social media with Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda. ‘We are three-time world champions,’ says Hamilton, who appears to slur. Lauda says: ‘Yes, we are.’

Hamilton adds: ‘Yes we are, and we’ve had lots of vodka.’

They then act out a brief role-play in which Lauda pretends to admonish Hamilton because he ‘didn’t perform as quick in the end as in the beginning,’ referring to the Briton’s drop in form once he wrapped up the F1 title in October.