Lewis Hamilton's future at Ferrari has come under scrutiny, with former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari predicting that the seven-time World Champion might eventually walk away from the Scuderia, describing the team as “not a winning team.”
His exclamation comes amidst a mixed bag of results for Hamilton and the prancing horse of Ferrari since his very public transition from Mercedes. Hamilton bagged a win in the Ferrari colors, with victory at the China Sprint from pole position. But he is yet to finish ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc in a race. It was quite evident from the large discrepancies in lap time, where he was six-tenths down in Bahrain and half a second down in Saudi Arabia, that Hamilton mentioned that there could be "no fix" for his problems and the year could be "painful" for him.
Alguersuari's Prediction: Possible Segregation by Hamilton Away from Ferrari
Between 2009 and 2011, Alguersuari competed in Formula 1 with Red Bull's junior team, Toro Rosso. He expressed his prognosis on the podcast The After Lap, countering that he truly believes Hamilton will leave Ferrari, going so far as to acknowledge the risk of voicing such a prediction.
"I have the feeling that Hamilton is going to leave," Alguersuari said. "I don't know why I'm taking a risk by saying this. But I have the feeling that his time has passed, that he's already won a lot, that he's already won everything and that he's saying: 'OK, I've gone to Ferrari to try and see what happens in 2026.'"
Ferrari Needs to Change- A Struggling Team
The problem, says Alguersuari, lies with the Prancing Horse's inability to contend for a championship in recent history. The last time the Italian squad tasted glory in the F1 world was in 2008 for Constructors' Championship, while Kimi Räikkönen was their last Drivers' Champion, also in 2007. With winning cars and teams, Ferrari can't be a winning team, Alguersuari said bluntly.
"Ferrari is not a winning team. A team is a team that wins races, but it is not a winning team. They have not won since 2008." Alguersuari continued: "So they may have a competitive car, they may have a competitive team, but they don't have a winning team."
Hamilton's Problems With Ferrari: Will He Stay or Leave?
Even with Hamilton's early struggles with Ferrari, there is some optimism among the team. While Hamilton hinted at frustration with the performance of the car and his own results, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur stood firmly by his driver. Having known Hamilton in Formula 3 and GP2, he couldn't hide his admiration for the British driver.
"2,000 percent behind him," Vasseur stated, after the Saudi Grand Prix. "I will give him support, and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons and to work on it early in the morning."
"But honestly, I am not too worried," Vasseur added "If you have a look at what he did in China or what he did in Bahrain, or even in the first part of the session this weekend, the potential is there for sure. We just have to adjust."
“But honestly, I am not too worried.
“If you have a look on what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week, or even on the first part of the session in this weekend, the potential is there for sure.
“We just have to adjust the balance because we are, collectively, Lewis and us, we are struggling with the balance of his car and [how] he is working the tyres.
“It’s a kind of negative spot but I think the potential of the car is there and we will try to solve that.”