30/11/2016
NEWS STORY
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."