Lewis Hamilton is one paranoiac individual. He earns £50million a year and is due to join Ferrari for a lot more next season (perhaps £70m), yet he believes the world is against him.

It may be an element of what motivates him, but it was strange to hear his remarks on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix in which he said there were those ‘talking s***’ about his decision to leave Mercedes for the Scuderia.

He announced the news of his switch in January, a move that caught many people by surprise, though it had been a long-held desire of his and one he had looked into for years, however tentatively previously.

Of course, he is right to seek a new home. Mercedes are struggling to find form and he is bored by the project. One step forward, one back, for them.

He said in Shanghai: ‘I don’t feel like I need my decision vindicated. I know what is right for me and that hasn’t changed from the moment I made the decision.

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Lewis Hamilton hit back at those he believes have been critical of his impending move to Ferrari next season

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The driver appeared incensed but the press room are not thought to know exactly who he was referring to

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Hamilton (pictured in 2023 with Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur) has been inspired in the past by a ‘world-against-me’ attitude

‘There’s not been a moment that I’ve questioned it and I’m not swayed by other people’s comments. Even today, there are people continuing to talk s***, and it will continue on for the rest of the year. I’ll have to just do what I do.

‘Only you can know what’s right for you and this will be an exciting time for me.’

When pressed on who it was ‘talking s***’, Hamilton said: ‘Just read what’s out there.’

Well, perhaps social media trolls have been slagging him off, but who else? Nobody that I have read. The press conference room, I’m told, was not sure what he was banging on about.

This sense of the world-against-me has acted as inspiration for Hamilton throughout his life, and it reached its apogee when, in 2011, the stewards at Monaco penalised him for erratic driving. He had an unusually bad race that day and he asked, tongue-half-in-cheek, ‘Is it ‘cos I’m black?’ It was an Ali G line, and shouldn’t be taken too literally.

Lewis has had everything. Ron Dennis, then boss of McLaren, sponsored himself to the hilt and turned him into the most prepared debutant driver Formula One has ever known. Indeed, he had the most gleaming equipment from a young age. Other go-karters, as boys, looked on in awe at his lavish equipment.

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Ron Dennis (left) was an early champion of the driver’s and helped him emerge as a debutant

It has been that way ever since. Yes, he says that he wants to help other non-white competitors reach the stars, which is laudable, but the barrier towards inclusion in motor sport is not determined by the colour of one’s skin, but by financial considerations.

It costs approximately £8m to progress through Formulae Three and Two. Lewis, who remains a brilliant self-made story, had more privileges than most once he was 13 or so, significantly but not uniquely down to his father Anthony’s hard work.

But feeling sorry for himself, or to think he is being s***-talked, no thanks.

The sprint format, defamed by many traditionalists, returns in Shanghai this weekend.

I have, in fact, been open to the possible potential of the sprints on the understanding that the alternative – three sessions of practice – is stupefyingly dull.

The existence of laborious practice sessions may not matter so much to non-attendees, those who can switch on their TVs as and when they want. But, to those regularly at race tracks, the traditional fare offers little by way of excitement.

Formula One’s owners have been aware of this limitation. They think, probably rightly, that a new Netflix-generated audience want more competitive bang for their buck. (TV viewing figures bear out the truth that sprints bring in bigger numbers than the traditional practice sessions.)

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The sprint format is set to return in Shanghai and offers much more excitement than practice

The teams and their engineers usually rule the roost and last year the powers that be plumped for a disagreeable hybrid: qualifying for the grand prix on Friday and then Saturday given over to sprint qualifying and the sprint race. It was disjointed to say the least.

The new format is far better: Friday, with one practice session and then sprint qualifying. Then the sprint race on Saturday followed by ‘real’ qualifying. And, then, obviously, the grand prix itself on Sunday. It follows a natural order and feels right.

They now have the correct sprint schedule, to be deployed at six races this year, and they should stick to it. Enough chopping and changing has already gone on.

An increasing phenomenon in Formula One is for senior figures to render their WhatsApp messages ‘disappearing’. That is to say that within 48 hours what they send vanishes. It seems to be a lesson learned from the Christian Horner imbroglio.

What have they to conceal?

I understand that the Red Bull saga will enter its next stage once the Chinese Grand Prix is over, this Sunday.

The woman who is alleging Christian Horner harassed her is due to give evidence in the days that follow the race.

The Red Bull employee is challenging the initial finding that exonerated Horner of wrongdoing.

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The Red Bull employee at the centre of the saga is preparing to give testimony in a second appeal (Red Bull team principal Christian Horner pictured)

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The tumultuous start of the season has somewhat settled in the face of impressive results from star driver Max Verstappen

The appeal is due to be heard by a KC, with Horner’s affiliates maintaining that the woman’s original case was dismissed on grounds of ‘dishonesty’ on her part.

READ MORE: Christian Horner’s best man Bernie Ecclestone reveals what’s next for Red Bull boss and Geri, writes JONATHAN McEVOY

For now, Horner looks in command of the team, which has dominated the early part of the season.

An element of the dispute is political – no matter the ins and out of the accusations in question. The Austrian wing of the company want Horner’s wings clipped, but Thai majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya stands resolutely by his team principal. It is difficult to see Horner going anywhere.

Linked to this, it is increasingly impossible to imagine Max Verstappen leaving the team next season. Where to land? Where better to win than at Red Bull?

The only point at which he might shift would be in 2026 if he doesn’t believe the engine (devised in-house but Ford-badged, rather than the current Honda) would be up to snuff. He might then decide to move two years before his contract expires in 2028. As the driver of his generation, he can move wherever he wants.

Fernando Alonso’s longevity is Lewis Hamilton’s blueprint. The Spaniard signed a new contract last week to stay at Aston Martin taking him beyond his 45th birthday.

Alonso and Hamilton have one thing in common: the fact Formula One is an indivisible element of their beings.

Alonso exuded delight at agreeing a new deal – worth £30million or so. Yet, while the cash is evidently a thrill, his desire to go on racing is the central draw.

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Fernando Alonso has just signed a new two-year contract to stay at Aston Martin beyond 2024

He, like Lewis, cannot envisage a life beyond Formula One.

‘I am not the oldest driver here,’ said Hamilton, 39, in Shanghai on Thursday. ‘I am going to be racing for quite some time still, so it is good Fernando is still around.

‘He just shows what is possible in the new era of athlete.’

This sort of talk puts paid to the notion that Lewis would rather be a fashion designer or a musician or an actor. He’s extremely average at all those callings, yet a genius behind the wheel.