Jeremy Clarkson has blasted Lewis Hamilton for playing up to the cameras during his first visit to Ferrari’s headquarters at Maranello.
The seven-time world champion began work with his new team earlier this week, taking part in a private test at the Fiorano circuit. He completed 30 laps behind the wheel of their 2023 car with hundreds of adoring fans lining the edge of the track.
Clarkson was not impressed with Hamilton making the most of the attention by posing for social media pictures, suggesting he is more of a celebrity than a racing driver.
The former Top Gear presenter also attacked Hamilton for reportedly commuting to work in a Fiat helicopter as opposed to a Ferrari road car.
Writing in his column for The Sun, Clarkson said: “If he’s so keen on that eighth world title, you’d imagine that he’d have arrived at the factory on day one, keen to know the car’s secrets and how he can extract the most from its vast arsenal of racing trickery.
“Instead, he turned up in an SUV in a suit and tie and posed for pictures before talking to fans, under the watchful eye of a video drone which luckily was there to capture the moment.
“Next, there was a tour of the team’s headquarters where, in slow motion, we saw the fawning engineers and the applause. And then, eventually, he went on to the track in a Ferrari that’s three years old.
“I’m told his new house isn’t anywhere near the team’s HQ. It’s in Milan, and he doesn’t even commute in a Ferrari road car, choosing instead to use Fiat’s helicopter. It made me wonder. What is Lewis now? A driver? Or a superstar?”
Clarkson also tipped Hamilton to struggle against Charles Leclerc, who is about to enter his seventh season with Ferrari and has been their golden boy since arriving in 2019.
“He’ll have his work cut out to beat his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who speaks Italian, knows the team, doesn’t spend quite so long posing for pictures and, thanks to a single-lap shootout, is regarded by many to be the fastest driver of them all,” added Clarkson.
“Maybe Lewis is aware of this. And maybe he signed for Ferrari for a different reason, he knows he’s past his prime now and he didn’t want to retire having never driven for motorsport’s crown jewel. Either way, I wish him well.”