Ralf Schumacher slams Lewis Hamilton: "A lot of drama, maybe he's too old"

Formula 1 race winner Ralf Schumacher has taken aim at Lewis Hamilton amid his ongoing struggles at Ferrari this year.

Hamilton left Mercedes with a year left on his contract to join Ferrari, but his first half-season with the team has fallen short of expectations.

While the Briton did score a morale-boosting victory in the Shanghai sprint race early on, he has failed to finish on the podium in a Sunday race, and has been comprehensively outperformed by his teammate Charles Leclerc.

Following a tough qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix where he got eliminated in Q2 and Leclerc stuck the car on pole, a dejected Hamilton called himself “useless” and asked Ferrari to replace him with another driver.

It followed just a week after the 40-year-old vowed to win a world championship with Ferrari and avoid the same fate that befell the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.

Ralf Schumacher critical of Lewis Hamilton

Former Jordan, Williams and Toyota driver Schumacher has now weighed in on Hamilton's woes, suggesting he is “too old” to adapt to the SF-25 or simply can't "cope" in that environment.

"I said before the season that this could go wrong,” he told Bild. “Right now, I see a lot of drama from him. He's been criticising the team, complaining internally, struggling with the car - that doesn't help anyone.

“The car suits Leclerc, not him. Maybe he's too old to adapt. Or he just can't cope. I think the decision to go with Leclerc was made a long time ago. But I don't think he'll quit during the season."

After 14 rounds, Hamilton sits sixth in the championship on 109 points, 42 points adrift of teammate Leclerc.

Meanwhile, Ferrari holds second place in the constructors’ standings with a 24-point buffer over Mercedes.