Sir Jackie Stewart hits out at Lewis Hamilton after title loss

Sir Jackie Stewart has hit out at Lewis Hamilton after the way he handles his defeat in the 2016 title race.

Although he congratulated new champion Nico Rosberg after the race, Hamilton was quick to point the finger at reliability issues, and also laughed off questions about whether the "best man won".

"There has to be a little dignity involved sometimes in winning, sometimes not winning," Stewart told Sky Sports when made aware of his compatriot's remarks. "When something like that happen, you need to forget the past."

"He won the Grand Prix, pretty impressive, he’s won 10 Grands Prix this year. He should not be unhappy. He’s won the world championship three times. Not that many people have won it that many times. He should be happy for it."

Perhaps surprisingly, however, was Stewart's assessment of the team orders controversy.

Hamilton was asked to speed up after he backed Rosberg into the charging Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, and while many have jumped to Hamilton's defence, Stewart insists Mercedes were right to make the calls.

"I don’t think in my days any of us would have done that or said that. You just have to […] follow team orders. To be with Mercedes, a totally dominant team, he should be grateful not upset," he said.

"The team did the right thing, [this year has been] a confirmation of how good they are but you have got to have good relationship within the team as well, particularly with your team mate."