(Motorsport-Total.com) – Is it time for Lewis Hamilton to leave Formula 1? At least expert Ralf Schumacher believes that the Brit, now 41 years old, will no longer fulfill his dream of an eighth world championship title in the top class.
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“Lewis Hamilton is definitely doing better again this year, no question,” emphasizes Schumacher in the podcast Backstage Boxengasse from Sky. The record world champion had ended the 2025 season without a single podium finish.
In 2026, he took his first podium for Ferrari ever in the second race of the season in China, and overall his results are better than in the second half of the 2025 season. It is also “great” that Hamilton has made “a kind of comeback,” stresses Schumacher.
However, the Brit still has to realize “that he probably won’t have a chance against [Charles] Leclerc in the long run over the year.” Accordingly, he advises Hamilton and also the even three and a half years older Fernando Alonso to retire at the end of the season.
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“I believe they have had a wonderful time in Formula 1. And I think it will be time for both to vacate the cockpit at the end of the year and give young people a chance,” says the six-time Grand Prix winner.
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Because of his value to Formula 1, “of course, you want to keep Lewis Hamilton, no question,” Schumacher also makes clear. “But I believe everything has an end,” says the expert, who would rather give the “youth” a chance in the coming years.
About Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman, who is currently racing for Haas, he says for example: “I believe he deserves the chance to sit in the Ferrari.” In addition, the young Brit could be “a challenge for Charles Leclerc” in terms of sport, believes Schumacher.
In general, there are “lots of good, young drivers coming from Formula 2 who deserve a chance,” he emphasizes. Despite their past performances, there might soon be no place for Hamilton and Alonso in the starting lineup anymore.
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