A former Ferrari driver has made a surprise claim about Lewis Hamilton ahead of Formula 1's return at the Dutch Grand Prix - that has left fans less than convinced.
Hamilton qualified and finished in 12th place at last month's Hungarian Grand Prix, and described himself as 'useless' after the Saturday session.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur defended his driver and cited his improvement in race performances in recent weeks.
Hamilton does have the Scuderia's only race win of the season - the sprint race in China - but is 42 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in the standings.
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The seven-time world champion has been brought in with an eye on next season, with Formu1a.uno reporting last year that part of his contract contains technical guarantees for 2026 as the sport adopts new technical regulations.
But former driver Arturo Mezzario - who drove in F1 for Ferrari between 1972 and 1973 and finished second in the 1973 Le Mans 24 Hours - has sensationally claimed that 90 per cent of Scuderia employees 'did not approve' of Hamilton's arrival.
"As far as I know, 90 per cent of the employees at Ferrari did not approve of the decision," he said (via PlanetF1).
"And then, when a driver does not feel valued or an integral part of the group to achieve a goal, he loses motivation. Why go crazy to gain three-tenths while still remaining on the third row?
"It's not over. He is just waiting for the right opportunity. He will only risk when necessary, not for an eighth position. Also because, if he ever wanted to leave, he would find another team. Hamilton has already shown what he is worth."
Given that Hamilton has been courted by Ferrari throughout much of his career, the idea that 90 per cent of the team's employees would not want to work with the seven-time champion appears reasonably fanciful -
Hamilton was competing for the Drivers' Championship as recently in 2021, and showed last season that he was still able to outpace Mercedes team-mate George Russell during races - even if his rapid qualifying pace has dipped in recent seasons.
It is also Hamilton's first season in F1 without the use of Mercedes power, with Vasseur recently admitting that his adaptation to Ferrari mechanisms has been a key factor behind his lack of performance at the early point of this season.
The Brit started his career at McLaren, when they had an engine partnership with Mercedes, before moving to the works German team in 2013.
Vasseur told The Race after the Hungarian Grand Prix: "McLaren was Mercedes, and then he moved to Mercedes: an English team [based in Brackley], same engine guys, that same culture, and so on.
"So he spent 2006 to 2024, 18 years, in this environment, and then he arrived at Ferrari. And we were stupidly expecting that he will have everything under control.
"You have guys on the grid that, if you look at Carlos, for example, he did Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, us and Williams in eight years. He changed [engine suppliers] four times. He's used to dealing with this - Lewis was not the case."
Topics: Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1
Ryan Smart