Top Gear fame Jeremy Clarkson slams Lewis Hamilton’s ‘hero to zero’ performance in China
Jeremy Clarkson wasn't mincing his words while berating Lewis Hamilton's shocking turnaround in performance in China.
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Lewis Hamilton (via Ferrari), Jeremy Clarkson (via Getty)
Lewis Hamilton suffered from a rollercoaster of a weekend at the previous Chinese GP. The Briton started the week off in a great fashion after clinching the pole position and, ultimately, a victory for the sprint sessions. However, the main race was nothing short of a disappointment for Hamilton as he suffered a disqualification from the race after finishing in only P6. Now, Top Gear fame Jeremy Clarkson has taken a dig at the Briton’s sudden overturn of performance in China.
Lewis Hamilton seemed extremely positive heading into the Chinese GP. The morale boost only increased after he scored his sprint race victory. However, Hamilton couldn’t keep up with this winning pace throughout the Qualifying session and the main race. The Briton could only achieve a P5 start to the Chinese GP in which he was ultimately disqualified due to a skid block breach.
Now, a frequent critic of Hamilton, Jeremy Clarkson has waged his opinion on the former’s dismal outing in China. Clarkson reckoned that the 40-year-old created headlines around the world after achieving his first sprint victory with Ferrari in only his second race. However, the Briton immediately went on to perform poorly in the Qualifying which was confusing. The 64-year-old was left baffled after witnessing the seven-time champion qualifying in only fifth for the main race.
What’s interesting, and troubling, is that a few hours later, having created headlines around the world, Lewis could only qualify for the main event in fifth.
Jeremy Clarkson wrote in The Sun newspaper.
Clarkson still tried to sympathize with Hamilton’s situation after he suffered from a woeful end to the initially positive-looking Chinese weekend. Still, the 64-year-old couldn’t believe the Briton’s sudden downfall in performance. He noted that a car performing completely differently at two separate tracks. However, the seven-time champion going from hero to a zero on the same track on the same day was unbelievable according to the 64-year-old.
I can understand that a car might be quick at one track and the following weekend, at a different track, be useless. But to go from hero to zero at the same track? On the same day? It makes no sense.
Jeremy Clarkson added.
Jeremy Clarkson flames Lewis Hamilton for the ‘driver swap’ call at the Chinese GP
Lewis Hamilton had still qualified ahead of Charles Leclerc and managed to keep the latter at bay until the final stages of the race. Towards the end, Hamilton couldn’t keep up with the pace due to worse tire degradation than his teammate. Hence, the 40-year-old called for a position swap with Leclerc to provide him with a better fighting opportunity at the forefront.
Jeremy Clarkson took shots at Lewis Hamilton for this situation as he lacked the confidence to move up the pecking order. Clarkson noted that Hamilton was so slow on the line that he couldn’t keep up with the pace to improve his position. The Englishman blasted the 40-year-old’s call to let his teammate through in a race where he was ultimately disqualified. The 64-year-old reiterated that he couldn’t believe the entire ordeal that Ferrari went through at the Chinese GP.
And in the race itself, he was so slow he let his team-mate overtake. And then he was disqualified. How is that possible?
Jeremy Clarkson noted.
Jeremy Clarkson claims it is ‘important’ for Ferrari to do well in 2025
All the Tifosi and many others have banked massive hopes on Ferrari to perform well in the 2025 season, more so with Lewis Hamilton. The fans are ready to hail Hamilton as the ‘hero forever’ if he succeeds in the drivers’ title. However, a double disqualification is definitely not what the Prancing Horse needs so early on in the final year of the ground-effect era.
Jeremy Clarkson asserts that it is crucial for Ferrari to perform well in this season. The reason for this is that the rival teams are more like businesses while the Scuderia remains much more than that. The 64-year-old labeled the Italian constructor as the ‘heart and soul’ for all the fans and many others. Moreover, Clarkson emphasized that it was important for Hamilton to ‘come out of the traps like a bullet fired from a gun,’ meaning he had to perform well from the get-go.
It’s important to everyone in Formula 1 that Ferrari does well because all the other teams are businesses, and Ferrari is more than that. It’s the heart and it’s the soul, It was crucial then that the team’s new boy, Lewis Hamilton, came out of the traps like he’d been fired from a gun.
Jeremy Clarkson explained.
Ferrari now has the massive task of figuring out the issues of the Chinese GP and ensuring such a dire situation never repeats again. The Italian constructor could lose the championship contention early on as the rivals remain at the top of their game. Only time will tell about how Maranello fares against the teams fighting for the win at the forefront.
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