Felipe Massa explains why he thinks Lewis Hamilton is in decline ahead of Ferrari move

Follow us on Google Discover

Felipe Massa was one of the first great rivals Lewis Hamilton faced during his F1 career. They were part of a four-way title tussle in 2007, Hamilton’s rookie year.

Massa’s Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen ending up taking that crown, one point ahead of McLaren duo Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. A year later, it was the Brazilian and the Briton who took centre stage.

Once again, the title fight went all the way to the last race in Brazil, even to the very last corner. In one of the most remarkable finishes Formula 1 has ever seen, Massa thought he’d won the championship as he took the chequered flag on home soil.

But Hamilton passed Timo Glock at the last meaningful turn to snatch it away by a single point. Massa still disputes the outcome as a result of the ‘Crashgate’ scandal in Singapore.

While they wouldn’t go head-to-head for the title again, their rivalry continued in the years afterwards. It grew particularly tense in 2011 as they clashed on track multiple times.

Hamilton joined Mercedes ahead of the 2014 regulation changes, while Massa moved to Williams. The Sao Paulo native would score five podiums with the Grove outfit before his retirement at the end of 2017.

Felipe Massa concerned by Lewis Hamilton’s struggles against George Russell

Speaking to Motorsport Brazil, Massa said the ‘exceptional’, record-breaking Hamilton would be an elite asset for his new team Ferrari on and off the track. But he also feels that he’s no longer the driver he used to be.

He pointed out that George Russell has often got the better of the seven-time world champion this year. Russell has already won the qualifying battle with seven races to go, and he’s also prevailed in nine of the 14 races both have finished.

Massa fears that Charles Leclerc will also expose any natural decline, with Hamilton due to turn 40 in January. He suggested that Alonso, now 43, may be showing greater longevity.

He said: “Hamilton brings a lot to a team. Not only on the financial side, not only on the importance, not only on marketing, not only in the press in general.

“He’s an exceptional driver. He has practically all the records in F1. But lately, he doesn’t demonstrate all the same things he demonstrated before.

“It happens a lot nowadays, his teammate ahead of him in the classification. He is very good at racing and he did wonderful races this year too.

“But it’s not an easy competition he will face next year with Leclerc, who is a talent.

“This is a point where age can weigh in. It depends on the driver. Alonso, maybe he’s still in a good phase.”

Why Lewis Hamilton ‘disappears’ during race weekends at Mercedes

Hamilton is ahead of Russell in the drivers’ championship. He’s scored 166 points to Russell’s 143.

But Russell will feel that those figures don’t tell the full story. There was a 50-point swing in Hamilton’s favour at the British and Belgian Grands Prix as Russell suffered a DNF and a DSQ for reasons largely beyond his control.

The veteran driver has tended to start weekends strongly before his teammate gains the advantage. One journalist suspects that Russell is more in tune with the tyres once the track grips up, while a struggling Hamilton ‘disappears’.

Hamilton sounded frustrated over the radio in Azerbaijan last time out as he endured another tricky qualifying. He told the team to ‘get those temperatures up’, suggesting he had more issues with the Pirelli rubber.