Lewis Hamilton is low on confidence ahead of his move to Ferrari and hasn’t been signed by the F1 side for his ‘speed’.
That’s according to former Formula One driver Karun Chandhok, who has become the latest figure associated with the sport to deliver his verdict on Hamilton.
On paper, this has been a better season than the last. The Briton has, after all, won two races – which is more than he managed across the previous two campaigns.
But with three races to go until he leaves the Silver Arrows, Hamilton appears to be down in the dumps.
The 39-year-old toiled in Brazil last weekend, ending the Sao Paulo in 10th place.
He was downbeat in the aftermath of that event as he continues to often pay the price for poor performances in qualifying.
Chadhok, speaking to Betway, believes Hamilton is struggling for confidence and that his comments on qualifying are ‘weird’.
And the 40-year-old also believes Ferrari have signed the veteran for 2025 due to his knowledge and experience, rather than his speed.
Chadhok said: “He’s clearly struggling for confidence over the one lap. His score with George [Russell], including Sprint sessions is 20-6 on the qualifying scores.
“For a guy with over 100 pole positions, it’s a real surprise.
“But you listen to Lewis speak afterwards and he says things such as ‘I’m just not good at qualifying’ and ‘I just can’t qualify’, it’s really weird.
“I think he is low on confidence and for whatever reason, I genuinely think he doesn’t know where the qualifying performances have gone.
“But from Ferrari’s perspective ultimately, I don’t think they have hired Lewis for speed. They have Charles Leclerc for speed.
“They hired Lewis because he knows how to win a World Championship. He will bring them experience and the knowledge of how to put a season campaign together.
“In terms of speed, I still believe Charles Leclerc is the best qualifier on the grid. In terms of out and out one lap pace, he is the fastest driver in F1 today.
“They’ve got speed but what they haven’t had is a driver who has won a World Championship, and I think that is what they have hired him for.
“For Lewis, it is something he will have to work on though because in 2025, it’s going to be super close and if he is two or three tenths away from Charles, you could end up P6 or P7 on the grid and all of a sudden, your race is completely different.
“I’m sure it’s weighing on his mind but I don’t think Lewis needs people to tell him where he needs to improve, he knows within himself where he needs to improve and you can see the body language.”
After the Brazilian GP, Hamilton sparked speculation that he could leave Mercedes early.
While thanking the team, he said it had been a ‘pleasure’ to work with them on a daily basis.
But Hamilton won’t be replaced for the final three races of the season.
The final three events of the campaign will take place in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi on November 24, December 1 and December 8 respectively.
