Lewis Hamilton tipped to make shock F1 retirement decision after nightmare Ferrari start

A top Formula One pundit has suggested Lewis Hamilton could retire from the sport following his disappointing start to life with Ferrari.

After winning six F1 Drivers' Championship titles during a highly-successful 12 years with Mercedes, Hamilton shocked fans last year when he announced he would be joining Ferrari at the start of the 2025 season.

However, things haven't gone quite to plan for Hamilton since joining the iconic F1 team, leaving him seventh in the driver standings after five race weekends.

And when asked to comment on this, a former F1 driver has suggested that Hamilton may decide to retire in the near future due to his poor form with Ferrari.

Despite pulling off a shock win in the sprint race ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton has failed to finish on the podium for any of the main races this weekend and is 16 points behind teammate Charles Leclerc in the standings.

Although there is still a long season ahead of the Brit, former driver Ralf Schumacher – the brother of Michael Schumacher who is the only other driver in F1 history to win seven titles - believes Hamilton could retire at the end of the year if things don't improve.

Speaking on Sky Germany’s Backstage Pit Lane podcast, Schumacher said: “He just can’t cope with the car. We talk a lot about Lando Norris, but it’s almost worse with him

“You can see that he’s really slumped over. If you’re standing there at some point and have no more resources and are permanently slower, then you lose everything.

“I know from my own experience: if it goes on like this, it’s no fun anymore.

“Then at some point, he wakes up in the morning and thinks to himself: ‘Why am I doing this to myself? I’m no longer having fun, I can’t do it anymore. I’m getting in the way of my team.’

“If it goes on like this, there’s a risk that at some point he’ll say: ‘Look, I don’t want this anymore. I want to live my life now, I’m 40 years old. I’m so rich, I’m not doing this to myself anymore. Obviously it’s not working out for some reason.’"

Lewis Hamilton has had a disappointing start to the 2025 F1 season. (Image: Getty)

Schumacher went on to explain that it may yet take some time for Hamilton to fully adjust to Ferrari and that he could still turn things around, but the gap between him and Leclerc is concerning.

“It’s a huge project that Ferrari and Hamilton had in mind, but at the moment he’s a long way away from Charles Leclerc. I wouldn’t have thought it would be so extreme," he added.

“However, China also showed that as soon as he gets into the car and the track and the car suit him, he delivers. There’s still something to come.”