Alesi calls out Hamilton in Senna or Schumacher ‘would never’ claim
Lewis Hamilton has had a disappointing start to his Ferrari career
Lamenting his Ferrari struggles as he proclaimed the team should “probably” replace him, Jean Alesi has told Lewis Hamilton that’s something Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna would “never” say.
Hamilton joined Ferrari this season in a bid to revitalise his Formula 1 career after three difficult seasons with Mercedes following his championship defeat in 2021, when his four-year reign was ended by Max Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton: They probably need to change driver
Alas, the move has been more difficult than expected.
Despite winning the sprint in China where he led from lights to flag, Hamilton has yet to record a single grand prix podium with his best result three P4 finishes.
Moments of progress have been followed by steps backwards, ending in two disappointing races for the Brit before the summer break.
Suffering back-to-back early eliminations in the qualifying sessions at the Belgian Grand Prix, where he spun in SQ1 and had his fastest time deleted in Q1 for exceeding track limits, Hamilton apologised profusely to the Ferrari team.
He recovered to finish seventh, but still held up his hand for “losing points”, saying it is “not what the team deserves”.
However, one week later in Budapest, Hamilton wasn’t just sorry, he was saying Ferrari should “probably” replace him.
Again failing to make it out of Q1 while Charles Leclerc put his SF-25 on pole position, the seven-time World Champion told Sky F1: “It’s just me every time. I’m useless, absolutely useless.
“Team has no problem, you’ve seen the car’s on pole. They probably need to change driver.”
24 hours later, his mood had not shifted as he failed to make up a single position in the grand prix.
Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after the race, Hamilton said he felt the “same” as he had after Saturday’s qualifying, and his thoughts that Ferrari should find a new driver were also unchanged.
Asked if he will definitely be driving the Ferrari when F1 returns with the Dutch GP, he replied: “I look forward to coming back… Hopefully I will be back, yeah.”
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Hamilton’s comments raised eyebrows in the paddock as pundits debated whether this was a sign that Hamilton was considering retirement.
His former team principal at Mercedes Toto Wolff said no, as he has “unfinished business in Formula 1”, while his current boss at Ferrari, Fred Vasseur, insisted he was “frustrated, but not demotivated”.
However, Bernie Ecclestone, Damon Hill and others said maybe it was a sign that it was time for Hamilton to hang up his helmet.
But while Ferrari legend Alesi didn’t go that far, he called out the Briton for his negative comments.
“I think Hamilton’s attitude demoralises those who work around him. Senna or Schumacher would never have said things like that,” Alesi told Corriere dello Sport in his ‘Pit Stop’ column.
Alesi’s criticism, though, didn’t stop at Hamilton.
The Frenchman was also unimpressed with Ferrari’s overall performance in the latter part of the Hungarian Grand Prix as pole-sitter Charles Leclerc went from leading the race to finishing off the podium in fourth place.
Leclerc showed good pace in the first two stints but having swapped to the hard tyres for the final stint he lost pace and finished 42s down on race winner Lando Norris.
George Russell claims Ferrari had to up Leclerc’s tyre pressure as his SF-25 was too close to the ground and also close to being “illegal” on plank wear.
Alesi agrees.
“It looked like an Italian comedy, it became a horror film,” he said.
“The reason was revealed by Russell after observing Leclerc’s car on the track. A Ferrari that runs on Saturday and then doesn’t work on Sunday is what infuriates those who love the Prancing Horse the most.”
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