WATCH: Hamilton slammed for 'snapchatting' during F1 presser

Tokyo - Lewis Hamilton caused a stir at Suzuka on Thursday, with sections of the British press accusing him of disrespect.

Throughout the official FIA press conference, the world champion gave short and evasive answers whilst playing with his phone.

'We've been doing this a long time' 

When asked what he was doing, the Mercedes driver answered: "Huh?

"It's quite funny, just some (Snapchat) Snaps of us drivers."

On Snapchat, Hamilton had captioned some of those 'snaps' with: "This s--- is killing me."

Hamilton explained: "Hey man, we've been doing this a long long time and it's the same each time so got to keep adding new things to it."

Hamilton might be forgiven for feeling distracted after his engine travails of the Malaysian GP, but his teammate Nico Rosberg insisted he is not worried.

Hamilton's problems won't last

The German said: "I've learned not to spend energy on things I can't influence." 

"I have every confidence in Mercedes that they will do everything humanly possible to prevent the same thing happening. And some changes are already being implemented this weekend.

Rosberg added: "We just need to be a little more careful this weekend -- but I'm not talking about earth-shattering changes." 

As for the apparently distracted Hamilton, Rosberg answered: "I've known Lewis long enough to know that he recovers from setbacks and will be as difficult as ever to beat here."

Watch: Lewis Hamilton's busy on phone during press conference