Bernie Ecclestone believes Lewis Hamilton should rip up his Ferrari contract and ‘do something else’ if he’s ‘fading’ amid his issues in Formula One this season.

The 39-year-old’s time with Mercedes looks set to end on a low note, with the veteran struggling ahead of the final three races of the season.

Hamilton could only finish 10th at the Brazilian Grand Prix last weekend, with Max Verstappen securing glory.

And some within the sport have started to write off the Stevenage-born racer, believing he’s past his best.

Ecclestone, speaking to the Daily Mail, has admitted he ‘doesn’t like to see’ a driver ‘fading’ like Hamilton.

And he believes the F1 icon should tear up his contract before he’s even started if he feels he can’t get back to his brilliant best.

“If Lewis is fading, which I don’t like to see, he should go away and do something else, and do a good job at it,” he said.

Hamilton has won six of his seven F1 titles while racing for the Silver Arrows.

But victories have been hard to come by ever since he was denied a record eighth crown back in 2021.

Hamilton did perform well at the British Grand Prix in July, clinching a memorable win at Silverstone.

He was also awarded victory on the Belgian Grand Prix that same month after team-mate George Russell was disqualified.

However, with three races to go, Hamilton finds himself in seventh in the Formula One standings – a staggering 203 points behind Verstappen at the summit.

Meanwhile, Toto Wolff has opened up on Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari.

The Austrian insists he ‘likes’ the veteran’s decision to cross the divide because it prevented him from having to get rid of Hamilton at a later date.

He was, however, shocked by Hamilton’s decision nonetheless.

Wolff told a new book Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane: “I absolutely had it on my radar that Lewis would go.

“I just couldn’t understand why he’d change to another team before we knew if we were going to be competitive.

“It also didn’t give me any time to react, I had to emergency call our partners, and I possibly missed out on negotiating with other drivers who had signed contracts a few weeks earlier like Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.

“It helps us because it avoids the moment where we need to tell the sport’s most iconic driver that we want to stop.”

He added: “There’s a reason why we only signed a one-plus-one-year contract.

“We’re in a sport where cognitive sharpness is extremely important, and I believe everyone has a shelf life.”