Lewis Hamilton has been criticised for his handling of a difficult opening few months at Ferrari.

After he finished behind team-mate Charles Leclerc at the Chinese Grand Prix, the British star openly hinted that an element of his car was slowing him down.

Former F1 driver Christian Danner has urged Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur to put Hamilton in his place over the comments.

“He’s not really coming to terms with the whole issue,” Danner told the AvD Motorsport Magazine. “You can tell he’s a bit unsettled, almost a bit snotty, and complains about this and that.

“I mean, I expect – not necessarily for Bahrain, but at some point, of course – that Ferrari will respond to that. Fred Vasseur can’t let the driver say there’s a component on the car that’s hindering my performance.

“I don’t envy Fred because he really wants to make it work. He really wants Lewis to have everything.

“I don’t think it’s very clever to make such cryptic accusations against the team. It’s like, ‘You didn’t give me one component, and that’s why I’m slow.’ I think, no matter how difficult it is for such a superstar, he has to bite the bullet and see how he gets on.”