Jeremy Clarkson believes Lewis Hamilton is ‘past his prime’ and ‘too old’ amid the 39-year-old’s problems in F1 this season.
While the veteran has won two races, which is more than he’d managed across the previous two campaigns, he’s currently 203 points behind Max Verstappen at the summit.
Hamilton will be hoping to turn things around when he leaves Mercedes for Ferrari next season.
But some feel Ferrari may have signed a busted flush, with Hamilton currently behind Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz Jr and George Russell in the Formula One standings.
Jeremy Clarkson believes Lewis Hamilton is ‘past his prime’ and ‘too old’ amid the 39-year-old’s problems in F1 this season
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Clarkson, writing for The Sun, has now opened up on Hamilton.
And he’s brutally stuck the knife into the Mercedes star by saying that he’s past his prime.
“We learned two important things during last weekend’s Grand Prix in Brazil.
“Well, three, if you count Lance Stroll, who crashed his freshly repaired car on the formation lap. And then drove it into a gravel tap.
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“First of all, Max Verstappen is one of the all-time greats. He may even be the greatest driver we’ve ever seen.
“And second, Lewis Hamilton is past his prime.
“He blamed his car for his tail-end qualifying session but his team mate, George Russell, was on the front row.
“Of course it’s possible that because Lewis is moving to Ferrari next year, the team are filling his fuel tank with lemon barley water instead of petrol. But that seems unlikely.
“It’s far more probable that he’s now too old.”
Hamilton has won seven F1 titles throughout his career, the same amount as the legendary Michael Schumacher.
Yet he’s never been able to scale those same dizzying heights ever since being denied a record eighth crown in 2021.
Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari believing the grass is greener and that he’ll be able to finally land the F1 title he craves.
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Jeremy Clarkson thinks Ferrari may be signing a busted flush in Lewis Hamilton
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And whether he’s able to achieve more history in his new surroundings remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, former F1 star Karun Chandhok has also discussed Hamilton.
Speaking to Betway, he’s suggested that the Briton is ‘low on confidence’ as he prepares for his Mercedes farewell – while also claiming Ferrari have recruited him for his experience, rather than his speed.
“He’s clearly struggling for confidence over the one lap. His score with George [Russell], including Sprint sessions is 20-6 on the qualifying scores,” he said.
Jeremy Clarkson thinks Max Verstappen may be the best F1 driver of all time
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“For a guy with over 100 pole positions, it’s a real surprise.
“But you listen to Lewis speak afterwards and he says things such as ‘I’m just not good at qualifying’ and ‘I just can’t qualify’, it’s really weird.
“I think he is low on confidence and for whatever reason, I genuinely think he doesn’t know where the qualifying performances have gone.
“But from Ferrari’s perspective ultimately, I don’t think they have hired Lewis for speed. They have Charles Leclerc for speed.
“They hired Lewis because he knows how to win a World Championship. He will bring them experience and the knowledge of how to put a season campaign together.”