Three-time world champion Jackie Stewart has criticised Lewis Hamilton's actions in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

If Lewis Hamilton is the rock 'n' roller of the contemporary F1 grid, make no mistake, Jackie Stewart was his 1970s equivalent, if not more so.

The Scot, with his long hair, ever present shades and friends from the world of movies and music, was a breath of fresh air to a F1 paddock where many of his colleagues opted for the more conservative look, even though it was the days before corporate branding came to rule the sport.

Other than 'the look' however, 'The Flying Scot' also had the talent, winning three F1 titles as well as enjoying success in other disciplines.

Though his time as a team boss wasn't as successful as one might have hoped, his success as a drivers demands that one pays attention when he speaks, for he is still widely ranked among the top ten drivers to have graced the sport.

Reflecting on Sunday's race, the Scot is highly critical of Lewis Hamilton's actions, branding the Mercedes a "little ballerina".

"I think he can be a little ballerina," he told the Press Association. "Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda are not stupid people, and neither is the Mercedes chairman who often comes to grands prix.

"You cannot threaten a multi-national corporation of that size by one man who is just not doing it the right way," he insisted. "Give him the option of 'either do it our way or you have to be excused'.

"I'm sorry, but when you are paid between 20 and 30 million pounds a year and you are told to do something you have got to do it. I don't care who you are," said the Scot, who sold his own team to Ford which raced under the Jaguar name before selling out to Red Bull.

"It is not the first time he has gone against instructions," said the Scot, "and if he is going to continue to do that they have the choice of dropping him.

"He only does twenty-one races a year. It is no big deal. We worked our asses off to make decent money, and they don't even do much testing now.

"Mercedes may just give him another heavy warning, but if they do that they would then have to say 'this is what is going to happen the next time you disobey orders'. Another way would be to penalise him financially."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 01/12/2016 21:01

"I don't know what Sir Jackie's beef is with Hamilton, but he keeps popping up with a nasty putdown at every conceivable opportunity.
Lewis and the rest of today's drivers are under intense and immediate media scrutiny. The mainstream media's main interest is digging the dirt rather than reporting the facts. It is disappointing that someone of Sir Jackie's distinction has chosen to wade into the media cesspool rather than remain dignified and aloof.

Lewis has at least had the decency finally to make what appears to me to be a genuine attempt sincerely to congratulate Nico for his victory.
Perhaps Lewis will take note of the old adage 'Act in, haste, repent at leisure'."

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2. Posted by GrahamG, 01/12/2016 18:39

"Couldn't agree with Sir Jackie more
Please stop worshipping at the feet of a false profit. Hamilton is a mediocre driver and a pathetic personality. Put him in a less than 30% superior car, penalise him for punting off other drivers and watch him sink.
Mercedes, you don't need him, get rid"

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3. Posted by Hobgoblin, 01/12/2016 8:40

"So it is acceptable for team orders to decide a championship now is it?"

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4. Posted by f1fan, 30/11/2016 22:00 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 30/11/2016 22:53)

"Jacky, why don't you just jump in the lake, you're full of..........

Edited: we do not allow foreign language posts
"

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5. Posted by mittagongcalling, 30/11/2016 21:47

"It was Jack Brabham who said win races as slowly as possible"

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6. Posted by testa rossa, 30/11/2016 17:28

"Jacky was a sissy racer compared with the pre war drivers ...

Next Lewis hater please....."

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7. Posted by SouthernMackem, 30/11/2016 17:26 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 30/11/2016 22:53)

"You know, I'm getting tired now of the anti Hamilton angst now. Perhaps he shouldn't have bothered to take the grid after nico qualified 2nd, or perhaps retired after 5 laps or the first pit stop when nico remained second.

All he tried to do was strategically win the WDC. Merc already had the WCC. What Lewis did was make nico fight for that WDC and given the option of fighting for it or having Lewis roll over and ask for his tummy to be tickled I'm pretty sure he would take the fight choice. And fight he did.

I'm not a nico fan, not a Lewis fan either. I'm an f1 fan and we got a race. Run the best way according to JYS comments in the past - as slowly as possible. No one can say there was no tension, take the Hamilton strategy out of it and it would have been a boring race.

For me nico is now a worthy champion and a much more improved driver for that experience. It's a pity he never considered trying to overtake Lewis, a sign that the pressure wasn't that bad? He did pass Max though which is no easy task and one that was more likely to see him wiped out.

Any other driver doing the "hammy" and we'd all be applauding, be it schuey, JYS, hakkinnen, senna, Prost, even Lauda ...............last race their is no team mates when the WCC is won.

What is inexcusable is the poor sportsmanship afterward. "

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8. Posted by ClarkwasGod, 30/11/2016 16:47 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 30/11/2016 22:53)

"I hold Sir Jackie in very high regard both for his skill and achievements on the track, and for his safety campaigning during (and after ) his racing days. However, in this particular instance, it is not Hamilton who JYS should be censoring, but the Mercedes personnel who were trying to interfere with the on-track action. His comments are somewhat ironic, in fact, given that he (JYS) once commented in reply to a question "How fast do you have to drive to win a race?" - his response was something like "As slowly as possible". I cannot imagine either Sir Frank Williams or Ron Dennis taking such action when their drivers were involved in the championship victories - "Just don't take out your team mate" was the dictum within those teams.

Mercedes, for all their engineering and aerodynamic excellence ultimately are, sadly, a "Corporate" team. Both drivers should be well aware, now, that their personal situation in respects of the Drivers' Championship is of no interest to the senior staff."

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9. Posted by vulgarboatman, 30/11/2016 15:38

"Dear Sir Jackie, Name-calling in general is unprofessional and childish. And I'll wager that many non-sexist adult people think that calling someone a 'little ballerina' is a compliment."

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Stewart brands Hamilton a "little ballerina"

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