Fernando Alonso delivers rare defence of Lewis Hamilton amid Ferrari struggles

Fernando Alonso has backed former F1 teammate Lewis Hamilton to rediscover his form at Ferrari, insisting the seven-time world champion has “nothing to prove” despite his struggles in 2025.

Hamilton has endured a difficult first season at Ferrari, failing to finish on the podium so far this season.

While Hamilton has tasted success in a sprint race, it’s been mostly an underwhelming campaign for the 40-year-old.

Hamilton’s last two races before the summer break were disappointing.

Hamilton was eliminated early in the two qualifying sessions at Spa-Francorchamps.

Although an inspired strategy call propelled him back up the order on the Sunday.

It wasn’t the case in Hungary, as he was knocked out in Q2.

Hamilton was lapped and finished outside the points, whereas teammate Charles Leclerc led the race from pole position before dropping back to fourth.

Alonso: Hamilton-Ferrari combo deserves respect

Fernando Alonso has been critical of Lewis Hamilton over the years, often siding with Max Verstappen.

Hamilton beat the Spaniard in his rookie season at McLaren in 2007.

Since then, the pair have remained rivals.

However, Alonso and Hamilton have had contrasting fortunes.

Alonso hasn’t won a race in F1 since 2013, while since then, Hamilton has won six F1 world titles.

It appears that Alonso empathises with Hamilton, given he spent five seasons at Ferrari before leaving the team for McLaren-Honda.

Speaking ahead of the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, Alonso said that Hamilton “doesn’t need to prove anything”.

He hailed Hamilton as an “incredible driver” and that the Hamilton-Ferrari combination still deserves a lot of “respect”.

“I think from the outside you never know for sure what is going on but Lewis doesn’t need to prove anything,” Alonso said.

“He’s an incredible driver and he will figure out sooner or later to be at the top pace. He and Ferrari will be always a combo that you need to respect a lot.”