Lewis Hamilton gives his support to teammate, Valtteri Bottas, urging that the Finn's critics "give him a break".

Just three races into the 2021 season and already the usual suspects in the media - not to mention the vast army of keyboard experts that fuel social media - are on the case, dictating who is hot and who is not.

Ignoring the criticism of Nikita Mazepin that was there before he'd even had his seat fitting for Haas, drivers currently in the line of fire include Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.

During the week, a British tabloid claimed that the Finn, according to a well-placed source within the team, is to be dropped mid-season in favour of George Russell.

While the Finn today dismissed the story, accusing the media of talking "bullshit", teammate, Lewis Hamilton jumped to his defence, urging his various critics to leave him alone.

When it was suggested that a line up featuring him and George Russell in 2022 would be stronger than the current line-up, Hamilton said: "From what I've experienced, from the relationship that I have with Valtteri, I think he's been an amazing teammate, as I've always said.

"If I'm really honest, I feel like we have the best line-up currently in terms of deliverables, in terms of the equilibrium that's within our team, and the general knowledge in terms of moving our car forwards," he added.

"Look, at some stage it is going to shift, it is going to change," he admitted. "I'm not going to be here forever, Valtteri won't be here forever, but right now, I think we've delivered time and time again over the years, and we continue to.

"Valtteri just qualified on pole at the last race. It's only the fourth race. I think people need to give him a break, and just let him focus on doing what he's doing."

Check out our Thursday gallery from Barcelona, here.