Verstappen wins 2021 F1 world championship
Jeremy Clarkson gave a brutal assessment of Lewis Hamilton as he shared his predictions for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix two years ago. The Clarkson’s Farm star weighed up Lewis, 38, and his rival Max Verstappen, 26, and did not hold back in sharing his opinion.
Writing in a 2021 opinion piece, the 63-year-old quipped that Lewis “is so hilariously on message, he’s off it”.
He wrote for The Times: “He stands there with his serious taxdodging but knighted face telling everyone to cut their emissions, while circumnavigating the globe so that he can race a 1,000-horsepower car that was sponsored by the company that clad the tower at Grenfell.”
Lewis’s rival did not escape Jeremy’s acid tongue as the journalist continued: “Then there’s Max Verstappen, who’s a yob. His dad, Jos, a Dutch racing driver from the 1990s, was convicted of threatening his wife and violating a restraining order.”
Nevertheless, Jeremy conceded that both men are “epic drivers”. He went on: “I think Max is probably better as a helmsman. He just seems to be able to get more out of the car than it is capable of delivering.
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“But when it comes to wheel-to-wheel racing, Lewis probably has the edge. When the chips are down, he gets canny. He’s cleverer. More calculating.”
The December 12 race ended up being one of the most dramatic in Formula One history as Hamilton was pipped by Verstappen for the title in controversial circumstances.
The FIA faced huge backlash after the late introduction of a safety car and a controversial call from race director Micheal Masi meant Verstappen was able to overtake Hamilton on the final lap.
The result meant Verstappen clinched his first world title and Hamilton lost out on winning it for a record-breaking eighth time.
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Amid the furore which ensued afterwards, Jeremy appeared to further rub salt in Hamilton’s wounds.
The former Top Gear host tweeted: “Delighted with the result but the stewards need to be banned. We’ve had enough of them.”
Jeremy’s dislike of Lewis Hamilton was prevalent even before the controversial race, with him saying the F1 ace had “changed” and gone “woke”.
He wrote for The Sun in November 2021: “People love Max Verstappen but they’ve taken a noisy dislike to Lewis. The problem is that Lewis has changed.
“When he first came on to the scene he was bright and talented and normal – and everyone loved him. But then he decided to go woke and right-on and more politically correct than a student union AGM.”
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