Evidence Lewis Hamilton has doubts as F1 retirement talk labelled “normal”

Ex-F1 driver Johnny Herbert believes it’s perfectly “normal” that Lewis Hamilton contemplates retiring from F1.

Hamilton has endured a difficult start to life at Ferrari in F1 2025.

The seven-time world champion has been dominated by Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

Even though Hamilton has shown some signs of improvement, the last two races before the summer break seriously damaged his confidence.

Hamilton was knocked out in Q1 twice at the Belgian GP.

However, an inspired strategy call propelled him up the order.

Hamilton finished outside of the points in Hungary in a torrid weekend at one of his best tracks.

Speaking to Grosvenor Casino, Herbert believes there have been clear signs of Hamilton questioning himself.

“A year ago, when he won at Silverstone, he said very frankly that he’d come to doubt whether he could celebrate another victory, and this means that Hamilton has been aware and at the same time doubtful for quite some time that he might no longer be as competitive as he’d like,” Herbert said. 

“Furthermore, in this scenario, there’s the comparison with his teammate, and Leclerc is offering the best version of himself; he’s consistent and doesn’t make mistakes. In all of this, we shouldn’t forget Hamilton’s age.”

Hamilton retiring “a very difficult decision”

Lewis Hamilton will be desperate to see how he fares next year.

F1’s technical regulations are being overhauled, and the ‘ground effect’ era is coming to an end.

Hamilton’s struggles can be traced back to the start of 2022.

While he’s still proven competitive at times, a vastly different style of car in 2026 could suit him more.

Herbert feels that if Hamilton doesn’t enjoy an upturn in form, he will understandably consider his F1 future.

“It’s not that there’s a particular year in which he loses competitiveness; it varies from driver to driver, but it’s natural to lose freshness and flexibility when adapting your driving style to a particular car or generation of cars. the ground-effect ones that debuted in 2022.

“So it’s normal that at some point Hamilton might even consider retiring, a very difficult decision to make, especially because you wonder if the right time has actually come.

“If things don’t work out and don’t improve, perhaps he’ll come to the conclusion that it’s time to move on and try other things in his life.”

Hamilton hasn't finished on the podium so far during his Ferrari F1 career.

The last driver to go through an entire season without a top three finish was Kimi Raikkonen in 2014.