Jeremy Clarkson points finger at mystery F1 driver in cryptic post
Jeremy Clarkson regularly comments on F1-related matters
Celebrity F1 fan Jeremy Clarkson has sparked a mystery by revealing that he likes all “bar one” driver on the F1 2025 grid.
The television presenter opted against naming the driver in question, only commenting that he was not referring to Mercedes driver George Russell or Lance Stroll, the Aston Martin star.
Jeremy Clarkson post sparks new F1 mystery with cryptic Dutch GP post
Clarkson has been a regular face in the paddock over recent years, attending the British Grand Prix at Silverstone for the last three seasons as well as the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2024.
As reported by PlanetF1.com on Monday, the 65-year-old singled out Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver, for special praise during last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
After Leclerc overtook Russell with a bold move at the chicane, Clarkson took to social media to describe it as “THE overtake” of the F1 2025 season and compare Leclerc to Gilles Villeneuve, the late Ferrari icon.
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“LeClerc [sic]. Holy s**t. That’s proper racing,” Clarkson wrote before adding: “That was pure Giles [sic]. So cool.”
Leclerc’s race came to an early end when he made contact with Russell’s teammate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, at Turn 3 after 52 laps.
Leclerc’s exit completed a double retirement for Ferrari after his teammate Lewis Hamilton crashed at the same corner earlier in the race.
In the aftermath of Leclerc’s collision with Antonelli, Clarkson returned to Twitter with a post that read: “Antonelli is a teenager.”
Put to him by a fan that Russell is a “crybaby” by comparison, he replied: “Nah. George is OK. They all are. Bar one.”
Sent an image of Stroll by another fan, he added: “Not him.”
It remains unclear exactly which driver on the current grid Clarkson was referring to, although the television star has been a frequent critic of Hamilton, the seven-time World Champion, throughout the F1 2025 season.
Writing in his newspaper column in January, Clarkson doubled down on his view that Hamilton is “past his prime” after the 40-year-old made his first public appearance at Ferrari’s Maranello base.
Unimpressed by the glamorous start to Hamilton’s Ferrari career, which included the most-liked F1-related Instagram post in history, Clarkson wrote: “It made me wonder. What is Lewis now? A driver? Or a superstar?”
After Hamilton was disqualified from the second race of the season in China, meanwhile, Clarkson wrote that the veteran went from “hero to zero” 24 hours after winning the sprint race in Shanghai.
Clarkson also could not risk a dig at Hamilton after Red Bull sacked long-serving team principal Christian Horner after July’s British Grand Prix.
Pondering where Horner could go next after leaving Red Bull, he wrote: “Ferrari? Possibly, but that would mean upping sticks and moving to Italy.
“And dealing with Sir Hamilton.”
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