Fake News! Hamilton hits out at reporting

Lewis Hamilton criticised the misrepresentation of his post-Belgian Grand Prix comments by some media outlets, by using Donald Trump's infamous "fake news" catchphrase. Hamilton's use of the phrase "trick things" to describe Ferrari's pace advantage over Mercedes was pounced upon by a selection of channels.

Hamilton has made little secret of his appetite to monitor news surrounding him this year and posted a message on Instagram during Sunday's driver parade, critiquing reporting on an answer he had given after qualifying regarding Esteban Ocon's struggle to find a seat for 2019.

After following a dominant Sebastian Vettel home on Sunday at Spa, Hamilton said: "They've got a few trick things going on in the car. I did what I could, we did what we could and we've just got to keep working."

Hamilton clarified the comments in a press conference almost immediately afterwards, asked if he thought Ferrari were bending the rules he said: "No, we all have trick things on our cars. Trick is just a word for something special, I guess.

"I'm not saying that there's anything illegal on. I'm just saying we all have something trick. Trick is just something that helps you bring that extra bit of performance. That's all I mean. I don't mean anything to it so please don't read into it and please don't twist my words and say that I say they're doing anything illegal because they're not."

Still, salacious headlines suggested that Hamilton had accused Ferrari of cheating, although it did not go unnoticed by the four-time world champion, who took one piece in particular to task over social media...

#FAKENEWS!

Is it @LewisHamilton or @realDonaldTrump?#ItalianGP #BelgianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/4hdTuYVACU — GP Fans Global (@GPFansGlobal) August 27, 2018