text: Lewis Hamilton has described his champagne-spraying of a grid girl after the Chinese Grand Prix, which has drawn widespread criticism, as 'a fun thing'. One of the fundamental acts of Formula One has been brought into sharp focus over the past few days following Hamilton's win in Shanghai. In a typical moment of exuberance that comes with a victory for any driver, and following the playing of the national anthems, Hamilton grabbed his bottle of bubbly and for a fleeting moment turned it on grid girl Liu Siying. Lewis Hamilton says his champagne-spraying of a grid girl after the Chinese Grand Prix was 'a fun thing' F1 championship leader Hamilton walks in the paddock ahead of the 2015 Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix . Mercedes AMG Petronas's Hamilton (left)  shares a laugh with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo . Hamilton says he was just acting on his excitement after winning the Chinese Grand Prix . The pictures that followed appeared to show the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art graduate grimacing as the champagne hit the side of her head. The incident drew condemnation from Object, a campaign group against sexism, which condemned Hamilton's behaviour as 'selfish and inconsiderate', and called on him to apologise. Siying, however, has since defended Hamilton, remarking to the Shanghai Daily: 'It lasted for only one or two seconds, and I did not think too much about it at all.' She added: 'I think some foreign media are more sensitive about the topic compared to local media. 'I was just told by my employer to stand on the podium, and that's what I did.' Asked on Thursday about the matter ahead of this weekend's race in Bahrain, Hamilton was relieved to hear Siying's comments. Hostess Liu Siying appears to grimace as she's sprayed with the winners champagne in Shanghai . Siying says 'I did not think too much about it at all' after the Brit driver was criticised by an anti-sexism group . Siying laughs during the incident which she says the foreign media have been more sensitive about . Hamilton gets his own back from team-mate and rival Nico Rosberg after the pair finished one-two in China . The world champion said: 'I hadn't really heard too much about it until today. 'Obviously when you arrive (at the circuit) you get a debrief as to what has happened during the week, so fortunately for me it has not overshadowed my week. 'Ultimately it was a great weekend, and generally my actions are through excitement. 'This is Formula One - the pinnacle of motor sport - and I'd just won a grand prix for the team. 'You should see it was a kind of a fun thing. I would never ever intend to disrespect or try to embarrass someone like that. 'I don't really know the reasons why people have brought these things up. 'This is a sport so many people love, and the more we show character and fun it reflects how great this sport is, and that's what I try to do. 'It hasn't affected me, and it's nice to know the lady kind of wrote in. If she had wrote in and said she was really unhappy then perhaps I would be more concerned.'
target: Lewis Hamilton sprayed Liu Siying with champagne after win in China .
  He was criticised as 'selfish and inconsiderate' by an anti-sexism group .
  Visual Art graduate Siying said she 'did not think too much about it at all'
  Hamilton said he would have been concerned if she was unhappy .
  The defending world champion spoke ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix .