Former F1 boss urges Lewis Hamilton to retire amid disappointing season with Ferrari

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has been struggling with the SF25 since the recent rear suspension upgrade was brought to Ferrari. Amid these struggles, former F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone has come out and urged the Brit to retire.

Hamilton made the move from Mercedes to Ferrari after the 2024 F1 season with the hopes of winning his eighth F1 title. However, the debut season hasn't gone to plan for the seven-time F1 champion, who continues to struggle in the SF25.

The Brit has been outperformed by Charles Leclerc this season and has failed to put in a strong performance in the last couple of races. Lewis Hamilton tested the new rear suspension at Mugello a week before the Belgian GP.

Coming into the race at Spa Francorchamps, Hamilton was eliminated in SQ1 after he spun on his final lap with the rear end locking up. The Brit explained that it was an issue with the new rear brakes introduced by Ferrari. The same was followed by a Q1 elimination on Saturday as Hamilton's final lap was deleted for track limits.

F1 Grand Prix Of Hungary - Source: Getty

Coming into the Hungarian GP, the struggles continued with Hamilton making the Q2 session, but then failing to advance to Q3, which led to a midfield start. The Ferrari driver wasn't able to make any significant progress in the race and finished outside the points in P12, a lap down on the race leaders.

The founder of the Formula One Group, Bernie Ecclestone, came out after the Hungarian GP and advised Lewis Hamilton to retire. He explained,

“Lewis is very talented, was and probably still is. But like a lot of leading sports personalities, when they reach the top, there is only one way to go, and it’s not a good direction. It’s only down.” (via Daily Mail) “The guy is not a cheat. But he would be cheating himself if he goes on. He should stop now. If I were looking after him, I would negotiate with Ferrari immediately and say, ‘If you have someone to replace Lewis, he’ll step aside’. If I were Lewis, I would say to Ferrari that I wanted to be paid all my contract, in full,” he added.

Lewis Hamilton currently sits P6 in the Constructors' standings, over 40 points behind his teammate Charles Leclerc.

---

“I don't need to motivate him”: Frederic Vasseur reacts to Lewis Hamilton's “useless” comments after the Hungarian GP qualifying

Lewis Hamilton was visibly frustrated and downbeat after the Hungarian GP qualifying. Speaking with the media during the post-qualifying session, the Brit claimed that he was “useless” as he reflected on his poor performance while his teammate took the pole position.

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur came out and reacted to Hamilton's comments, suggesting the driver was being harsh on himself. He said,

“I don't need to motivate him, honestly. He's frustrated but not demotivated, it's a completely different story. Again, I can perfectly understand the situation and you can, sometimes you are making comments on what the driver is saying to the car, but if you put the microphone on some other sportsman in football and so on, I'm not sure that it would be much better.” “Sometimes they are making [rash] comments, even when they jump out of the car,” added Vasseur.

Lewis Hamilton signed a multi-year contract with Ferrari, which will see him race with the Italian stable until at least the end of the 2026 season.

Edited by Luke Koshi