Jeremy Clarkson, known as the former host of Higher speed And The Grand Tourmade bold statements about Lewis Hamiltonnotably that the driver is now too old for Formula 1. Clarkson also shared his thoughts on Max Verstappen and took a shot at Lance Stroll, reflecting on the key takeaways from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Hamilton recently made headlines following the release of Matt Whyman’s new book, Inside Mercedes F1: Life on the Fast Lanewhich offers an in-depth look at how Mercedes operates after the author spent 18 months with the team. Although much of the revealed book’s content relates to Hamilton’s planned move to Ferrari in 2025, it overshadowed the seven-time world champion’s performance at the recent Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

In the qualifying session in Brazil, Hamilton failed to reach Q3 for the sprint and main race, followed by a 10th place finish in Sunday’s wet race, while teammate George Russell started second and managed to lead the race until an erroneous strategy from Mercedes. pitted him against him at the wrong time, causing him to finish the race in fourth place. Hamilton, who had issues with the W15’s grip, said the Brazil round was one of his worst races.

As Hamilton joins Ferrari next year in search of an eighth world title, Clarkson believes he is ‘past his prime’ and recent dips in his performances since the summer break are a result of his age advanced by 39 years. Clarkson, however, marked Verstappen as one of Formula 1’s all-time greats, a statement backed up by the Dutchman’s outstanding performance in Brazil, where he started the race in 17th position due to an engine penalty, but won the race by more margin. 19 seconds ahead of vice-champion Esteban Ocon. Writing in his column in The Sunthe Clarkson’s Farm star said:

“We learned two important things during the Brazilian Grand Prix last weekend.

“Well, three, if you count Lance Stroll, who crashed his freshly repaired car on the formation lap, then drove it into a gravel trap.

“Firstly, Max Verstappen is one of the greatest of all time, he might even be the greatest driver we have ever seen, and secondly, Lewis Hamilton is past his prime.

“He blamed his car for his final qualifying session, but his teammate, George Russell, was in the front row.

“Of course, it is possible that because Lewis moves to Ferrari next year, the team will fill his fuel tank with lemon barley water instead of gasoline.

“But that seems unlikely, it’s far more likely that he’s now too old.”