I can't be bothered to read the full article on the Times website but would merely point out that there is a massive difference between an article's headline and any actual quotes given.
Quite, and we have no idea what question his comment was a response to or whether it was obvious that he was having a laugh about insisting on being called "sir" or if he was deadly serious. A media savvy politician would never have said anything like that but a hyped up racer who has just sealed a world championship could easily be caught out by a journalist trying to get an attention grabbing quote.
