Ralf Schumacher weighs in on Lewis Hamilton’s struggles: “China was no accident”

Ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes Lewis Hamilton is still capable of performing at this very best, declaring, “China was no accident”.

Hamilton has endured a difficult start to his career at Ferrari.

The only highlight, so far at least, was his sprint race victory in Shanghai.

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix proved to be the low point for Hamilton as he finished over 30 seconds behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. 

Hamilton was left perplexed by his lack of pace, conceding that there’s no quick “fix”.

With this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix a sprint weekend, Hamilton will hope to replicate what he did in China, which also featured the unique weekend format. 

Speaking on the Sky Germany’s podcast, Schumacher weighed in on Hamilton’s struggles at Ferrari.

“The expectations are very high, and Ferrari wants value for money,” Schumacher said.

“That means he has to make sure he performs. He probably will, because China was no accident.

“It’s not that he can’t do it. He just has to find the conditions and the car that suits him, and there are definitely circuits coming up that suit him.

“If he gives up now, it would be very early. I can hardly believe that, but if he does, then of course the team will be fully focused on Charles Leclerc, and developing the car more in his direction. 

“You can’t develop two cars in one team, it doesn’t work. The course is then clear.”

Schumacher puts forward retirement scenario

Hamilton’s difficulties can be traced back to the start of the ‘ground effect’ era in 2022.

While he performed well alongside George Russell over their first two years as teammates, the seven-time world champion was outclassed in his final season at Mercedes. 

Schumacher believes that if Hamilton’s difficulties continue, he could contemplate retirement.

“He just can’t cope with the car,” Schumacher added. “We talk a lot about Lando Norris [and his lack of belief], but it’s almost worse with him. You can see that he’s really slumped over. If you’re standing there at some point and have no more resources and are permanently slower, then you lose everything. 

“I know from my own experience: if it goes on like this, it’s no fun anymore. Then at some point, he wakes up in the morning and thinks to himself: ‘Why am I doing this to myself? I’m no longer having fun, I can’t do it anymore. I’m getting in the way of my team.’

“If it goes on like this, there’s a risk that at some point he’ll say: ‘Look, I don’t want this anymore. I want to live my life now, I’m 40 years old. I’m so rich, I’m not doing this to myself anymore. Obviously it’s not working out for some reason.’

“It’s a huge project that Ferrari and Hamilton had in mind, but at the moment he’s a long way away from Charles Leclerc. I wouldn’t have thought it would be so extreme.

“However, China also showed that as soon as he gets into the car and the track and the car suit him, he delivers. There’s still something to come.”