Lewis Hamilton's 'childish, charmless and stupid' conduct slammed by British media

World champion Hamilton finished second behind Rosberg, whose ninth win of the season sees him move 33 points clear of his Mercedes team-mate with four races remaining.

Hamilton's apparent obsession with social media was slammed by fellow Brit and former F1 driver Martin Brundle after he filmed a Snapchat video during an F1 press conference prior to the race. He used an app to stick cartoon ears, noses and whiskers on videos of himself and fellow driver Carlos Sainz.

“Instead of focusing on the world championship, he seems to be focusing on an app that puts bunny ears on people. It’s childish and stupid," said Brundle.

“What’s going to be interesting is if it will be a driving force, or is his focus wrong?

“Nico Rosberg is sitting there with none of this going on. We will find out in the next few hours.”

The Guardian's report wondered if Hamilton was aware of his duties to the sport, describing the Englishman as charmless.

"It is difficult to imagine a legend of the sport such as Ayrton Senna ever having behaved in such a fashion – and not only because he was racing cars in the days before camera phones," said an editorial in the Guardian written by Barry Glendenning.

"Despite being as prone to brooding introspection, temper tantrums and sulks as Hamilton, one can’t help but feel that even if the Brazilian had decided to amuse himself during media assignations by, say, drawing Hitler moustaches and glasses on newspaper photographs of Alain Prost, he would almost certainly have showcased the resulting doodles with more of a flourish and a modicum of wit."

The tone in the Daily Telegraph was similarly scathing with their report claiming there are concerns for Hamilton's mood after the goings on.

"Mercedes have been left fearing their driver is in 'meltdown' after he walked out of a press conference on Saturday night before fluffing the start in Suzuka, eventually recovering to third. Now 33 points behind Rosberg with four races to go, the title is out of Hamilton’s hands," said the newspaper.

"He may have been the victim of some wretched bad luck – it is likely the championship would be relatively even if Hamilton had not suffered so many mechanical issues – but he has been below his usual standards, with bad starts costing victory in four races this season."

And the concerns for Hamilton's well-being continued in The Independent.

"Yet this weekend’s antics have displayed a shift in Hamilton’s demeanour. It started with the already infamous Snapchat incident last Thursday, when the 31-year-old – yes, 31 – decided it was a good idea to take pictures of himself and his fellow drivers and add filters of rabbits and foxes to share with his followers.

"In the grand scheme of things, Hamilton was right in that it’s a harmless act and isn’t meant to cause anyone disrespect. But spin the scenario around and imagine the repercussions. What if a journalist interviewing the reigning world champion had started playing with their mobile phone while he was speaking? The chances of a second interview would be slim to none, and rightly so."