Lewis Hamilton “is not stupid” and does not need to change his hectic lifestyle in order to get his championship challenge back on track, Sir Stirling Moss has claimed.
Moss, the 86-year-old motor racing legend, who once confessed to celebrating his 16 grands prix victories by “chasing crumpet”, also hailed Formula One as the “most exciting it has ever been” and insisted Hamilton can still claim his fourth champion-ship this season.
Hamilton’s frantic lifestyle away from the circuit shows no signs of slowing down.
Indeed, the Briton courted criticism earlier this month for uploading a number of videos from a Miami nightclub in which he appeared to be smoking a shisha pipe and drinking tequila from a bottle.
Naturally, cynics have suggested that his focus is no longer on the job in hand.
But Moss, speaking on the eve of the Monaco Grand Prix – a race he won on three occasions – launched a staunch defence of his much younger compatriot.
Asked by PA Sport yesterday if Hamilton can maintain this hectic lifestyle, Moss replied: “Quite frankly, I think so. There is no doubt Lewis is one of the fastest drivers out there and I think his lifestyle is up to him. He is not a stupid man, he’s just a quick racing driver.”
Each of Moss’s three victories in Monaco touched the three-hour mark. In contrast, tomorrow’s race, the sixth of the champion-ship, will be concluded in less than two hours.
“When I won this race in 1961 it took me two and three quarter hours, so, they’ve got a pretty soft touch,” Moss added with a smile.
“They are all very, very fit, and now, you’re really unlucky if the car lets you down.
“Really, it used to be, maybe you’ll win, maybe you won’t, (you were) dependent on the reliability of the car, but that’s all changed now.”
Following his spectacular collision with Nico Rosberg at the last round in Spain, Hamilton heads into the Monte Carlo race 43 points adrift of his Mercedes team-mate in the F1 standings.
He has not won a race since October’s United States Grand Prix – the scene of his third F1 world championship triumph – and has not tasted victory in Monaco since 2008.
But with a possible 400 points still to play for, Moss added: “Boy, have we got many, many races to go yet and Lewis Hamilton can still win this world championship. What you have got to remember is there are 16 more rounds to go, which is a lot.
“Lewis is one of the last of the late, late brakers. He is exciting to watch, he is very confident and the car is enormously fast.
“Nico Rosberg is in the lead now, that may not last, but what we can say is that Formula 1 is as exciting as it ever has been.”