Fernando Alonso has accused Lewis Hamilton of environmental hypocrisy after the British racer encouraged fans to follow a vegan diet.

Hamilton regularly uses Instagram to document his concerns about the current global climate crisis, and to implore his followers to take whatever action they can to help prevent it.

Last week, the F1 champion sent out an emotionally-charged post which promoted the widespread adoption of plant-based diets as a way to help stop environmental catastrophe.

This view is supported by The Food and Agriculture Organisation within the United Nations, which found that livestock food production alone accounts for a massive 14.5 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions.

Despite this, Hamilton has received an overwhelming amount of criticism for promoting the vegan lifestyle he leads, which ultimately resulted in the British driver deleting the original post.

Many took the opportunity to accuse Hamilton of environmental hypocrisy, by making reference to his multiple vehicle ownerships, and regular use of carbon-emitting Formula 1 cars and private jets.

Their controversial claim is that Hamilton has no right to suggest how people could contribute to the fight against climate crisis, given that other aspects of his lifestyle help to fuel it.

Appearing on Spanish radio station ‘Cope’, fellow F1 driver and former teammate Fernando Alonso took the opportunity to surf the wave of criticism currently crashing over Hamilton.

He said, per the Daily Mail: "I think I would keep my eating habits to myself.

"I would never release a message like Lewis. You can’t send out a message on one day, and on the next day do the opposite.

"We all know the lifestyle that Lewis has, and that Formula 1 drivers take 200 planes a year. You can’t then say ‘don’t eat meat’."

Whatever side you take on this, one thing seems to be clear: taking action contributes far more to the climate cause than spending time accusing others of not doing enough.