David Coulthard thinks Lewis Hamilton is dealing with an issue that ended Michael Schumacher’s F1 career

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of completing a Formula 1 season without a podium for the first time in his career.

Lewis Hamilton currently sits sixth in the drivers’ championship, 66 points behind his teammate Charles Leclerc.

It’s not how the seven-time world champion would have envisioned his first season at Ferrari playing out, especially considering how close Fred Vasseur’s team came to winning the constructors’ title last year.

Hamilton was hoping to follow in the footsteps of Michael Schumacher, who enjoyed the best spell of his Formula 1 career with the Scuderia.

Unfortunately, David Coulthard has suggested that Hamilton might instead be starting to show signs of the downturn that the legendary German racer displayed during his final years driving for Mercedes.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

David Coulthard thinks Lewis Hamilton might be starting to lose his ‘raw speed’ at Ferrari

Coulthard was speaking on the Pit Talk Podcast with his former Red Bull teammate, Robert Doornbos.

Speaking about the relationships between teammates, he got onto the subject of Hamilton and said: “If you’re second on the grid, you’re second in the pit stop roster, and it just becomes more challenging, but that’s where the super drivers, the exceptionals, the guys that go on to win world championships, they have raw speed and they have all of the other skills that are involved in racing.

“I think that’s where, when you lose that raw speed, which arguably Lewis could be in that situation right now, where he hasn’t really dominated a teammate for the last two, three years.

“They always, in the peak of these guys’ performances, Michael, when he was at Mercedes at the end of his career, was still a brilliant race driver, but he wasn’t as full a package as he was when he was at Ferrari, when he was dominating his teammates.

“I know that upsets people when mediocre drivers like myself criticise or apparently criticise the greats, but it’s not a criticism, it’s using the data.

“You can have as many opinions as you like, but the wonderful thing about motor racing is it’s two data points, it’s the stopwatch and it’s the chequered flag.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1 legend Michael Schumacher from net worth to career stats

How Lewis Hamilton’s first season at Ferrari compares to Michael Schumacher’s 1996 campaign

Schumacher won two championships with Benetton before moving to Ferrari in 1996.

There were accusations of cheating at Benetton during Schumacher’s era, but it was clear by the time he joined Ferrari that he was the most talented driver on the grid.

He had to wait until 2000 to win his first title with the Scuderia, time that Hamilton doesn’t have.

Hamilton’s current deal reportedly runs until the end of 2027, but the signs from the current campaign suggest Ferrari are going backwards and not forwards.

In Schumacher’s first year at Ferrari, he finished third in the drivers’ championship behind the Williams pair of Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.

He won three races in Spain, Belgium and Italy, took four pole positions and stood on the podium eight times, beating teammate Eddie Irvine by 48 points in the championship.

It’s a far better record than Hamilton will manage this year, although considering the calibre of his teammate, he’s outclassed Irvine in that department.

However, Hamilton will be hoping that Ferrari’s 2026 car is far more competitive than the SF-25.