F1 star Lewis Hamilton snaps back at 'short-minded' Sir Jackie Stewart after brutal criticism

"But the truth is that in the last decade he competed with Mercedes for a team that was virtually out of competition.

“During this time, Lewis only had one real competitor - his respective team-mate.

"Except for 2016, he always emerged victorious from the duel.

“And then he lost to Nico Rosberg. With respect: a good driver, but not the most talented in the world. "But Rosberg was hungry and had the absolute will to become world champion. Lewis no longer has that hunger.

“Because of that - and because the car is no longer quite as powerful - he has serious problems.”

Yet Hamilton, speaking to the BBC, has snapped back by suggesting Stewart's comments were 'short-minded'.

When quizzed on what Stewart said, the Stevenage-born racer stated: "There are people who are very short minded that make the comments that they do, not knowing the work that has been done in the background."

And Hamilton also said he wants to set an example going forward, too.

“One thing I hope, and I never want to do is, in the future, when I one day stop and looking back on the youth or the next driver generation, I want to be encouraging them and let them know it’s okay to make mistakes," said the 38-year-old.

“It’s about being inspiring rather than shutting them down. That’s the kind of figure that I want to be.”

Plenty has changed in F1 over the last couple of years.

Max Verstappen won the 2021 title in controversial circumstances, with Hamilton denied history as a result.

Red Bull are now the dominant force in the sport having won every race so far this season.

And Hamilton admits it's been tough to adapt but believes fans of himself and Mercedes can dream of better and brighter days ahead.

“I think this past two years have been, whilst we’ve not had any success, it’s been a really amazing period of time," he said.

“We’ve all had to pull together, lift each other up, so that when we eventually get the car where we need it to be, I’ll be even better equipped, I think, than I have ever been before.”

Hamilton will be hoping to secure a podium position when the Singapore Grand Prix commences on September 17.

And it's certainly a track that has been kind to Hamilton in previous years.

The Brit won the race in 2014, ending Sebastian Vettel's dominance of the tournament in the process.

And Hamilton has since secured further triumphs in 2017 and 2018.

Sergio Perez won the race last year, with Hamilton only able to finish ninth.

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Verstappen will be the favourite to win again, however, with the Red Bull driver recently becoming the first driver in F1 history to win 10 races in a row.