Lewis Hamilton took exception to a question about Ferrari's pace after spluttering to a ninth-place finish at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday. The Mercedes veteran cut his time in the print media pen short after producing a snappy response, compounding a frustrating weekend for the Silver Arrows.

Hamilton is now four races into a curious season, wherein he knows that it will be his final year at Mercedes before joining up with Ferrari in 2025. Things are off to a dreadful start, with only 10 Drivers' Championship points on the board and nothing better than a P7 finish to show for his efforts.

The Brit couldn't even manage that in Japan as he clung onto the points in ninth. Ferrari star Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, finished fourth, and the man Hamilton will be replacing - Carlos Sainz - took third.

According to The Mirror, Hamilton bluntly responded "It was okay" when asked by one reporter how his race had been. Next, it was put to the seven-time world champion whether he was 'jealous' of Ferrari because they are currently 'faster' than Mercedes.

Hamilton snapped back: "Do you have any better questions?" The reporter apologised but the 39-year-old promptly walked away, followed by his press officer.

With Mercedes miles behind their competitors and Max Verstappen dominating the rest of the field, Hamilton stands little chance of ending his two-year wait for a Grand Prix win any time soon.

"I got some damage I think in the first stint at the restart with Charles and I had massive understeer, like huge, huge understeer. So that's why I decided to let George by, because he seemed quicker and I just couldn't turn the car.

"It took us two stints to finally dial more and more wing in to make up for that loss. Last stint, I was better, but it was too late, I had 10 seconds to regain."