Lewis is just a big pussy cat, really

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More holiday snaps from Formula One drivers who are taking the opportunity of the mandatory summer shutdown to get out and about around the world.

Earlier this week we had a fun snap of Nico Rosberg playing with his dog in the back garden of his home, but his Mercedes team mate (and arch-nemesis) Lewis Hamilton has gone one better with this picture of him face-to_face with a cat. A very big cat. Oh, all right - a fully grown tiger, in fact.

Hamilton was making a return visit to the Black Jaguar White Tiger Foundation in Mexico, which he also spent time when he was in the country last November for the Mexico Grand Prix.

However his latest visit has seen Hamilton attract criticism from animal rights group PETA for the photos and videos he posted of his close encounter with the rare animal.

"Seeing big cats used for photo ops promotes the idea that wild animals are here for human amusement and to do with as humans please, rather than to be left in peace in their own habitat," PETA director Elisa Allen pointed out in a statement.

"Unless big cats are kept on tranquillisers, they’re quite capable of becoming annoyed with him and taking a chunk out of more than his cap.

"Accidents happen, as everyone in racing knows, and Lewis won’t win the championship this year or any other if he loses the hands he needs to turn the wheel, the fingers he needs to shift gears, or a foot that he needs to work the pedals."

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.