“I saw Lewis Hamilton lose his smile - his strength? He can no longer do it”

Lewis Hamilton has “realised” that he can no longer deliver his key skill, an ex-Ferrari driver claims.

Ivan Capelli drove for six F1 teams in nine seasons including Ferrari, an Italian driver representing his country’s iconic team.

From Italy where the Tifosi are desperate for Ferrari glory, Capelli has watched their new superstar driver lose a crucial attribute.

"I saw him lose the smile he had in his eyes,” Capelli told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“What was his strength, which was to take the team by the hand in difficult moments, he can no longer do it.

“And he has now realised it. Especially with such a fast teammate next to him.”

Capelli added: "Lewis Hamilton? He is living a sort of double life.

“Away from the tracks he is the usual Hamilton, the seven-time world champion we know, but once in the car he can't find an answer to his driving problems.”

Lewis Hamilton backed to recover from Ferrari woe

Hamilton’s woes reached their worst point after qualifying at the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix where he labelled himself ‘useless’ and urged Ferrari to replace him.

He’d just watched Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari on pole. A day later, Hamilton was still miserable and did not backtrack from his alarming words.

But Capelli insists that not every F1 round after the summer break will go as badly as Hungary.

"Lewis can still give something to Ferrari,” he insisted.

“To think that he will close the year like this is inconceivable.

"It's not easy at all. Lewis is now aware that he can't adapt to the SF-25 and even the working methods at Ferrari are probably far from what he was used to in twelve years at Mercedes.

“At this point, the only wild card that Hamilton can still play for is 2026: a totally new car, with new rules and where everyone starts on an equal footing."

The F1 2026 regulations do offer Hamilton - and everyone else in the sport - a fresh start with new cars.

Hamilton has found the current era’s ground-effect cars a tougher nut to crack than previous iterations.

But, before then, he must battle his SF-25 through the second half of this campaign.

Martin Brundle has asked whether Hamilton can cope with two more years of struggle.

Questions have arisen over an earlier-than-expected F1 retirement for Hamilton due to his recent problems.

But the summer break is a chance to step back and reassess, and he will hope to be renegerised for the Dutch Grand Prix.