Just like Michael Schumacher found out at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton is unable to hit top gear when not in sync with the Ferrari car.<\/p>\n
That is the opinion cast by former F1 driver Christian Danner, who believes Hamilton\u2019s brutal self-assessment in Hungary was done \u201ctactically\u201d towards Ferrari, rather than a genuine trip to rock bottom.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari: Can he turn it around?<\/p>\n
Hamilton<\/a> arrived at Ferrari in F1 2025 to great fanfare. The seven-time World Champion called time on his record-breaking Mercedes career to head for Maranello, but it has been tough going so far.<\/p>\n Ferrari had hoped to be in the F1 2025 title race, but have been restricted to five podiums in 14 grands prix. All of those have been collected by Charles Leclerc, who is 42 points ahead of Hamilton in the Drivers\u2019 Championship standings<\/a> at the summer break.<\/p>\n Danner, who made 36 starts in Formula 1, believes Hamilton has reached a crucial crossroads in how he approaches his Ferrari career.<\/p>\n Much has been made of Hamilton\u2019s documents<\/a> submitted to Ferrari as team and driver look to engineer a breakthrough.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is currently trailing by two to three tenths of a second,\u201d Danner said of Hamilton in a ran.de interview. \u201cThat may not seem like much, but at this level it is crucial.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the summer break, Hamilton has to decide for himself, does he want to follow Ferrari\u2019s path, as the team dictates? Or will he try to change things so that they do what he wants? Both options take energy and the outcome is uncertain.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a driver doesn\u2019t get what he expects from the car, he can\u2019t reach his potential. We\u2019ve seen this with big names. Think of Michael Schumacher at Mercedes. There, too, the car just wasn\u2019t right for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton\u2019s situation at Ferrari seemingly hit a new low last time out in Hungary. Leclerc claimed his and Ferrari\u2019s first pole of the season, while a \u201cuseless, absolutely useless\u201d Hamilton \u2013 as he said of himself to Sky F1 \u2013 dropped out in Q2. He qualified and finished twelfth.<\/p>\n Hamilton, in the same interview, suggested Ferrari should find a replacement.<\/p>\n Danner though is highly sceptical regarding the true purpose of those comments from Hamilton.<\/p>\n \u201cI found his public appearance a bit too self-flagellating,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be honest, it was too theatrical for me to take it completely seriously.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was tactically motivated, a kind of wake-up call to Ferrari. It was more of a communication tool than genuine self-abandonment.\u201d<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc head-to-head in F1 2025<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n