F1 paddock insiders now agree that ‘time bomb’ Lewis Hamilton will make early Ferrari exit

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Lewis Hamilton raised alarm in the Formula 1 paddock when he called himself ‘useless’ at the Hungarian GP just before the summer break. He even declared that Ferrari should probably replace him.

Naturally, Ferrari aren’t turning a ‘blind eye’ to Hamilton’s comments, but there’s no indication that they’re trying to find a way out of his contract. The bigger question is the seven-time world champion’s appetite to continue.

For the second year in a row, he’s being comprehensively outperformed by his teammate, which was unthinkable in the past. Charles Leclerc has scored all five of Ferrari’s podiums and almost 60% of their points.

Hamilton has always been regarded as a driver who wears his heart on his sleeve, but in recent times he appears to be taking setbacks harder than ever. And there aren’t many highs to balance it out.

Experts predict Lewis Hamilton will ‘resign’ at the end of 2025

Hamilton’s Ferrari contract runs until the end of 2026, with an option for the 2027 season. Hamilton is in control of whether that third year is triggered.

But numerous English journalists inside F1 now expect him to walk away from Ferrari at the end of the season. That’s according to paddock veteran Roger Benoit.

Benoit has ruled out the possibility of Hamilton quitting immediately, but says his motivation is in doubt. Some suspect that he’s fundamentally ill-suited to the ground-effect cars, while others have suggested that he’s simply in decline at the age of 40.

In the eyes of Benoit, that explanation doesn’t stack up, because Fernando Alonso continues to perform at a high level (he finished sixth in Budapest) even though he’s four years older.

“I’m not writing it,” Benoit told the Motorsport Magazin Talk YouTube channel. “I have spoken to English journalists in the press room who believe he will resign at the end of the year.

“Some say he’ll resign immediately. He won’t do that, but it’s possible that at the end of the year he’ll think about whether he wants to do it again.

“It can’t be because of his age – Alonso showed that in this race [Hungary] at 44. In Spa, he was voted driver of the day by the fans.

“Hamilton is just an emotional time bomb and anything is possible.”

Jackie Stewart gives Lewis Hamilton some much-needed support

It’s important to note that, in May, Hamilton expressed his intention to spend at least ‘a few years’ at Ferrari. He also vowed to win the world championship at Maranello as recently as last month.

But this has become a recurring theme – defiant statements at the beginning of a weekend, defeatist remarks at the end. Ferrari need to find a way of breaking this cycle if they want the superstar signing to work.

Hamilton is an enormous commercial asset, but more than that, he was seen as the driver who could end the team’s championship drought, which spans nearly two decades.

In a recent interview, F1 legend Jackie Stewart said there’s ‘no reason’ why Hamilton can’t be a success at Ferrari. But first, he needs to commit to seeing out his contract, and that’s not a position Fred Vasseur would have expected to be in.