Hamilton dismisses critics of move to Ferrari as 'old white men'

Lewis Hamilton has delivered a stinging rebuke to criticism of his move from Mercedes to Ferrari, dismissing it as an irrelevance from what he describes as older, white men.

- Giles Richards

Hamilton is making his debut with Ferrari this year and is currently taking part in pre-season testing in Bahrain, where he was quickest in the morning session yesterday. This will be the 40-year-old's 19th season in F1 and comes after 12 years at Mercedes with whom he won six of his seven titles.

Speaking in an interview for Time magazine, he addressed criticism he has received from the former F1 team chief Eddie Jordan and the sport's former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

"I've always welcomed the negativity," he said in the interview. "I never, ever reply to any of the older, ultimately, white men who have commented on my career and what they think I should be doing. How you show up, how you present yourself, how you perform slowly dispels that."