Jeremy Clarkson delivers withering Hamilton assessment after Verstappen claim

WE learned two important things during last weekend’s Grand Prix in Brazil
Well, three, if you count Lance Stroll, who crashed his freshly repaired car on the formation lap.

Jeremy Clarkson has claimed Lewis Hamilton is "past his prime" and current world champion Max Verstappen could be "the greatest" F1 driver. 

Whilst Hamilton endured a torrid Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend, Verstappen delivered one of his finest drives to storm from 17th on the grid to win and take a giant step towards a fourth world title. 

He can wrap it up in Las Vegas, if he leaves Nevada 60 points clear of Lando Norris, with the current gap 62. 

Reflecting on the two world champions with 167 wins and 10 world titles between them, Clarkson feels Hamilton is now "too old" to deliver, with the Briton set to turn 40 in January 2025.

"We learned two important things during last weekend’s grand prix in Brazil," the former Top Gear host and current farmer wrote in his column for The Sun.

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

"First of all, Max Verstappen is one of the all-time greats, he may even be the greatest driver we’ve ever seen, and second, Lewis Hamilton is past his prime.

"He blamed his car for his tail-end qualifying session but his team-mate, George Russell was on the front row.

"Of course, it’s possible that because Lewis is moving to Ferrari next year, the team are filling his fuel tank with lemon barley water instead of petrol.

"But that seems unlikely, it is far more probable that he’s now too old."