Lewis Hamilton is worried he has lost his edge in qualifying (Image: Getty)
Lewis Hamilton’s admission about his won’t have gone unnoticed at . After more than a decade with , where he has won six of his seven F1 drivers’ titles, will switch to the legendary Italian team for 2025, by which time he will be 40.
have dropped to make way for the British hero, who has endured a barren final three seasons with the Silver Arrows. He has won just two races in that time, both coming this year.
Although his race pace has been largely strong, Hamilton has been comprehensively outperformed by team-mate in qualifying. Russell leads their qualifying head-to-head 18-5 and 5-1 in sprint qualifying this season.
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Following Friday’s sprint qualifying in Qatar, where he could only manage seventh compared to Russell in second, Hamilton cut a downbeat figure, candidly admitting he
“Same as every other quali, not that great,” he said. “I’m just slow. Same every weekend. So yeah, car felt relatively decent, no issues, not really much more to say.
When it was put to Hamilton that his poor qualifying performances can’t just be down to him, he said: “Who knows. I’m definitely not fast anymore.”
It wasn’t the first time in his career that Hamilton had openly expressed self-doubt. In 2023, towards the end of another winless season with , he admitted: “Ultimately, when you have difficult seasons like this, there are always going to be moments when you’re like, ‘Is it me, or is it the car? Do you still have it? Has it gone?’
Future team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc battle for position in the Qatar sprint race (Image: Getty)
“Because you’re missing that, you know… When the magic happens, when everything comes together, the car and you, and that spark, it’s extraordinary. And that’s what you’re in the search for.”
Hamilton has proved that he’s still got what it takes to compete at the front of the grid this season, winning both the Belgian and British Grand Prix, the latter in particularly eye-catching fashion. And he will no doubt do the same next season when he’s with .
Hamilton’s rivals certainly aren’t writing off him either. His next team-mate, Charles Leclerc, widely regarded as the best qualifier in F1, is relishing the prospect of working with 105-time grand prix.
“I am super excited to be working alongside him,” Leclerc recently told “To be, yes, learning from him but at the same time it’s such an exciting challenge for me to be in the same car as such a successful driver and to be able to show what I am capable of. Both of us will want to beat each other, that’s the way it is in F1, but I’m sure it will be a healthy competition.”
Max Verstappen is expecting big things from Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari (Image: Getty)
Old foe also believes a refreshed Hamilton will be a major threat next season. The four-time world champion said: “It has been tough for him to get motivated fully this year because he knows he is leaving the team.
“I felt like as soon as he had that competitive car, and there was a chance of winning, you could see that he really stepped up. Then there were some races where the car was difficult and he was like ‘whatever’.
“I don’t think he will ever lose it. He has achieved so much. It is a new challenge for him next year. He will be very, very motivated to show he is a seven-time world champion. But it will depend on the material he has got.”