Jeremy Clarkson Makes Startling Lewis Hamilton Claim - 'Signed For Ferrari For Different Reason'

Former Top Gear and The Grand Tour presenter Jeremy Clarkson has made a huge claim about Lewis Hamilton, who arrived at Ferrari's Maranello headquarters on January 20.

Clarkson pointed at the pomp around the seven-time world champion's arrival and wondered if he was at Ferrari to pursue his eighth championship title or "for a different reason." The 62-year-old also added on Hamilton's current pace and if that would be enough to beat his new teammate Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton's Ferrari joining was a huge event at Maranello as fans brought the city to a standstill in a bid to see their new favorite driver. While the first day saw the Briton get acquainted with his new team, the third day saw him drive an old Ferrari F1 car on the famed Fiorano test track.

The 40-year-old driver's first track outing also received huge attention from fans both online and offline. Clarkson, who is known for his funny and unconventional opinions, especially about Formula 1, has commented on the show around Hamilton's onboarding. He wrote in his column in The Sun:

“It could be argued that Lewis Hamilton wants a record-breaking eighth world championship before he retires, and moved to Ferrari because he reckons that this year they will have the fastest car.

“He may have a point. Early indications on the rumour mill suggest it’s very fast indeed.

“However, if he’s so keen on that eighth world title, you’d imagine that he’d have arrived at the factory on day one, keen to know the car’s secrets and how he can extract the most from its vast arsenal of racing trickery.

“Instead, he turned up in an SUV in a suit and tie and posed for pictures before talking to fans, under the watchful eye of a video drone which luckily was there to capture the moment.

“Next, there was a tour of the team’s headquarters where, in slow motion, we saw the fawning engineers and the applause.

“And then, eventually, he went on to the track, in an F1 Ferrari that’s three years old.

“I’m told his new house isn’t anywhere near the team’s HQ. It’s in Milan, and he doesn’t even commute in a Ferrari road car, choosing instead to use Fiat’s helicopter.

“It made me wonder. What is Lewis now? A driver? Or a superstar?

“What I do know is he’ll have his work cut out to beat his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who speaks Italian, knows the team, doesn’t spend quite so long posing for pictures and, thanks to a single-lap shootout, is regarded by many to be the fastest driver of them all.

“Maybe Lewis is aware of this.

“And maybe he signed for Ferrari for a different reason – he knows he’s past his prime now and he didn’t want to retire having never driven for motorsport’s crown jewel.

“Either way, I wish him well.”

While it seems like Clarkson has access to insider information about Hamilton, his article comes after his hilarious post relating to the former Mercedes driver on Instagram, captioned "Lewis Clarkilton."