Lewis Hamilton returns fire at his Ferrari critics

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport ImagesLewis Hamilton enjoys the spotlight and generally makes the most of it. He amply demonstrated his understanding of the enduring power of the image in his exquisitely curated first week at Maranello, down to his crimson-soled Christian Louboutin shoes.

But the combination of Formula 1’s most successful driver and its most historically evocative team has invited a potent level of scrutiny – and, in some quarters, borderline hysteria when results have not squared up with the lofty expectations. Hamilton’s victory in the sprint race in China is something of an outlier over a run of opening rounds in which he struggled to get close enough to teammate…