‘Complaining’ Lewis Hamilton warned Ferrari has made critical decision

Ralf Schumacher believes Lewis Hamilton is not helping anyone with his actions at Ferrari.

Suggesting Hamilton has been “complaining internally” as well as “criticising” Ferrari, Schumacher suggested Hamilton is perhaps “too old” at 40 to adapt to Ferrari machinery. Either way, he said the decision has long been made at Ferrari to put their eggs in the Charles Leclerc basket.

Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari: Can he turn it around?

Joining Ferrari was meant to be the realisation of a childhood dream for Hamilton as he chased an elusive eighth World Championship, but it is turning into a nightmare.

Hamilton is a 202-time visitor to the Formula 1 podium, a record tally, but he is yet to achieve such a result with Ferrari. Leclerc, meanwhile, has made the podium five times in F1 2025, and at the Hungarian Grand Prix, registered his and the team’s first pole position of the season.

That coincided with Hamilton’s season hitting a new low as he qualified and finished 12th at a venue where he has won eight times.

Hamilton had called himself “useless” and told Ferrari to “change driver” after he dropped out in Q2. After the race, he told the media, including PlanetF1.com that “I have nothing else to say,” when reunited with his suggestion.

Asked if he would definitely race for Ferrari at the Dutch Grand Prix, the first race back after the summer break, Hamilton added: “I look forward to coming back… Hopefully I will be back, yeah.”

But, Schumacher believes Hamilton’s approach has not been productive for himself or Ferrari.

Furthermore, Schumacher – a winner of six grands prix – claims Leclerc is the horse Ferrari now backs.

“I said before the season that this could go wrong,” Schumacher told BILD of Hamilton’s off-season switch.

“Right now, I see a lot of drama with 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 maybe he just can’t cope.

“I think the decision to go with Leclerc was made a long time ago.”

But, despite that claim, and Hamilton’s continued struggles, Schumacher concluded: “I don’t think he’ll quit during the season.”

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc head-to-head in F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

At this point, Hamilton must look ahead to F1 2026 as the opportunity to salvage his Ferrari career. With new chassis and engine regulations on the way, there is the potential for a major shake-up to the pecking order, and perhaps opportunity for Hamilton to capture that eighth title.

Much has been made of the documents Hamilton has been sending to Ferrari, and the Brit opened up on how he sees room for growth for the Scuderia.

“I see a huge amount of potential within this team,” he explained. “The passion, nothing comes close to that. But it’s a huge organisation, and there are a lot of moving parts. And not all of them are firing on all the cylinders that they need to be.

“That’s ultimately why the team has not had the success that I think it deserves. So, I feel that it’s my job to challenge absolutely every area, to challenge everybody in the team, particularly the guys that are at the top who are making the decisions.

“If you look at the team over the last 20 years, they’ve had amazing drivers: Kimi, Fernando, Sebastian — all World Champions. However, they didn’t win a World Championship [Raikkonen did with Ferrari in 2007].

“I refuse for that to be the case with me. So, I’m going the extra mile.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have had experiences in two other great teams. While things are different because there’s a different culture and everything, I think if you take the same path all the time, you get the same results. So I’m just challenging certain things.

“They’ve been incredibly responsive. We’ve been improving in so many areas, through marketing, through everything we are delivering for sponsors, the way the engineers continue to work. There’s still a lot of improvements to be made, but they’ve been very responsive.

“Ultimately, I’m just trying to create allies within the organisation and get them geed up, get them pushing. I’m here to win. I don’t have as much time as this one here [gestures to Kimi Antonelli], so it’s crunch time.

“I truly believe in the potential of this team. I really believe they can win multiple World Championships moving forward. They already have an amazing legacy. But during my time, that’s my sole goal.”

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