WHAT NOW, MA LOVE?: Hamilton's latest escapade with a brunette cannot be good news for Jodia Ma (left). -- PHOTO: ATLAS F1 BULLETIN BOARD

The 22-year-old Briton, who has a girlfriend of four years, has been seen with a succession of attractive women.

Last month, he was spotted with pop singer Natasha Bedingfield in the back of a taxi. He was also linked to the glamour model Danielle Lloyd.

The latest is a as-yet-unidentified brunette, who joined him on board a yacht off the celebrity hotspot of St Tropez, reported The London Evening Standard.

It was clear that the couple were keen on each other, and that may be bad news for Jodia Ma, his girlfriend who only days ago announced that they were still an item.

Hamilton was a guest on board the yacht of Mansour Ojjeh, an executive for McLaren sponsor Tag Heuer watches.

He and the leggy brunette were photographed playing in the sea. At one point, he slung the woman over his shoulder and leapt off the back of a speedboat.

They cuddled together in the surf, and later walked arm-in-arm along the beach in the sunset of the French Riviera.

They also spent an afternoon dancing at a fashionable beach bar, before dining together.

Hamilton seems to have little time for his girlfriend since his career got off to a flying start, although he has a three-week break before the next race in Turkey.

In January, Ma, whom he met at a Hertfordshire college, returned to Hong Kong where she works as a restaurant manager.

But the 21-year-old flew back to London last month to be by his side, after he survived a 280kmh crash at the European Grand Prix at Nuerburgring, Germany.

He finished just outside the points, came back to win last week's Hungarian GP - but aggravated another relationship en route.

Hamilton admits he cannot see an end to his feud with teammate Fernando Alonso because they are both so competitive.

His sensational debut season has reportedly left the two-time world champion Alonso feeling unwanted at the British team.

He claims that his colleague is not speaking to him, after a turbulent Hungarian qualifying session, which brought to light the bickering that had been under wraps.

He refused to let Alonso by at the start of the final qualifying session last Saturday, before the Spaniard ignored team orders and did the same in the pit lane.

Alonso was hit with a five-place grid penalty, while Hamilton went on to win the race and extend his championship lead to seven points over his teammate with six races to go. He has 80 points.

McLaren came away with zero points after being punished with a 15-point deduction for their drivers' behaviour.

But Hamilton, who acknowledges their battle has not helped team morale, is not surprised there has been friction.

'When you have two very competitive people in a team, probably the two most competitive people around, and who both want to win, it puts the team under pressure,' he said.

'It's just extremely hard for everyone to play fair and make it easy. That's why sometimes it appears one driver is favoured over the other. That's why sometimes I feel he is favoured and vice versa.'

He is determined not to let the off-track rows distract him from his goal of becoming world champion.

'Because of the problems we are having with the FIA and Ferrari, it's just more pressure on the team,' he said.

'The comforting thing is we have all this stuff going on, even at the weekend, and yet we weren't distracted from our job.

'I learnt a lot from the weekend, about my team, how strong they are to deal with all the issues that are going on right now.

'It's daunting for all of us, but I don't believe any other team could cope with it better.

'There's still a long way to go. So I will keep on pushing until the last race.'

These are troubled times for McLaren, with the driver situation just one problem threatening to send a stellar season out of control.

Rumours are rife that Alonso will quit at the end of the season, and that Ferrari are looking to snatch Hamilton in the chaos.

McLaren will also be able to make use of F1's three-week break to deal with the trouble they got into for possessing technical information about Ferrari's cars.

The date for Ferrari's appeal against the decision not to punish McLaren has been set for Sept 13, to be heard by the FIA's International Court of Appeal.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS