Lewis Hamilton could retire before contract expires as Ferrari struggles 'no fun'

A former racing star has warned that might walk away from before his contract is up if he doesn't turn around his performance. The seven-time champion has had a rocky start with the Scuderia, managing to scrape together only 31 points in five outings.

Hamilton hasn't managed to place above fifth in any Grand Prix for his new squad and struggled to a seventh-place finish last Sunday. Even his sole highlight this season, clinching , was marred by the gut-wrenching .

With his dream of an eighth F1 title rapidly unravelling, there's now talk that the British racing legend could exit stage left from the sport before his current contract concludes next year.

Ex-F1 ace reckons Hamilton hasn't quite got the measure of his new ride. He also senses that the 40-year-old superstar's passion for racing may have waned.

"You can see that he's really slumped over," he observed on Sky Germany's Backstage Pit Lane podcast. "If you're standing there at some point and have no more resources and are permanently slower, then you lose everything.

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"I know from my own experience: if it goes on like this, it's no fun anymore. If it goes on like this, there's a risk that at some point he'll say, 'Look, I don't want this anymore'.

"Obviously, it's not working out for some reason. It's a huge project that Ferrari and Hamilton had in mind, but at the moment, he's a long way away from [team-mate] ."

While Hamilton has struggled to perform, the general consensus is that Leclerc has been able to get the most out of Ferrari's car so far this season. He especially impressed in Jeddah by securing the team's first Grand Prix podium of 2025, taking the chequered flag third ahead of the quicker of .

Schumacher's comments come after Hamilton made a sombre forecast following that Saudi Arabia race. He does not foresee any significant improvements in performance for the rest of the 2025 season, reports .

"I think I'll struggle also in Miami," he admitted. "I don't know how much longer I'll struggle for, but it's definitely painful. At the moment, there's no fix. So, this is how it's going to be for the rest of the year. It's going to be painful."

Hamilton sits seventh in the drivers' championship heading into this weekend's . He is 16 points and two places behind Leclerc and already 68 adrift of standings leader , who leapfrogged Norris with his Jeddah victory.