Lewis Hamilton might stroll away from Method 1 if he continues to wrestle at Ferrari at the beginning of the following regulation cycle in 2026, believes Juan Pablo Montoya.
Hamilton’s high-profile F1 transfer to Ferrari has fallen in need of expectations to this point, with the Briton unable to commonly problem his teammate Charles Leclerc.
Whereas Leclerc has logged three grand prix podiums to this point this 12 months, Hamilton is but to complete greater than fourth in a Sunday race, though he did clinch a sensational victory within the Chinese language GP dash earlier in March.
When it comes to factors scored, Leclerc has comprehensively outgunned Hamilton 104-79 after the opening 10 rounds of the season.
Former Williams and McLaren star Montoya believes Hamilton is working arduous with Ferrari’s engineers to show round his marketing campaign, with the SF-25 a totally totally different beast to Mercedes’ F1 automobiles he drove for 12 years in a row.
But when Hamilton makes no important progress in 2026, when F1 will introduce sweeping adjustments to chassis and engine guidelines, Montoya believes the Briton is likely to be inclined to name it a day.
“I believe Hamilton is extra hungry proper now than he is ever been to show all people unsuitable,” he instructed On line casino Hawks. “But when 2026 goes dangerous, he would possibly begin going, ‘I can not be bothered.’
“However he is pushing them proper now. Whether or not they’re pleased with him pushing them, I’m not positive! I do suppose he must grill them and for them to be uncomfortable, the engineers, whether or not they prefer it or not.
“The engineers want to know that Lewis shouldn’t be making an attempt to be a d**okay to them, however making an attempt to make the automotive higher. I believe that is actually arduous. And it’s good to be taught as an engineer and as a driver to not take shit personally.
“On the finish of the day, they’re each after the identical factor. Lewis shouldn’t be questioning whether or not the engineer is absolutely sensible or not, however he is questioning whether or not they’re making sufficient choices and the precise choices.
“They should go away their ego at dwelling and go to work. Ferrari want somebody to handle that relationship higher.”
Lewis Hamilton “not snug” with Ferrari F1 automotive
Montoya believes the Canadian GP was an incredible showcase of Hamilton’s expertise, with the 40-year-old ending sixth and only one spot behind Leclerc regardless of hitting a groundhog early within the race and damaging his automotive.
The Colombian racer believes Ferrari must do extra to make the automotive driveable, as even Leclerc – who has been with the group since 2019 – shouldn’t be all the time snug with the SF-25.
“For the primary time since China, Lewis was trying fairly aggressive,” remarked Montoya. “He seemed good.
“There have been some rumours that they’d a brand new flooring or one thing. That was good. However he’s presupposed to have broken it on lap 10 or one thing when he hit an animal and broken the automotive. And regardless of that, he completed solely 20 seconds [before the safety car] behind Leclerc.
“If the injury price him, say two or three tenths of a second a lap, it means he was proper there.
“It is attention-grabbing that Fred Vasseur stated after the race that there was just one factor Ferrari had not modified.
“I believe he meant that the extra they focus the automotive on Lewis, the higher they are going to run as a group. That’s not saying they should not take note of Charles, however Charles has been main that group for the final seven years.
“It is a automotive that’s troublesome to drive. Lewis shouldn’t be snug. The one man driving it’s Charles. When Charles is nice, he is excellent. However when he misses it, it is a huge miss.
“So, if Ferrari says we’d like the automotive to be extra drivable, it’s going to assist Charles in addition to Lewis.”
