Martin Brundle claims Lewis Hamilton has “lost an edge with age” as the F1 legend starts his blockbuster Ferrari tenure this week.
The seven-time F1 world champion, who turned 40 earlier this month, spent his first week as a Ferrari driver this week in Maranello, meeting team personnel and testing a Scuderia car for the first time around the team’s Fiorano circuit.
Thousands of Ferrari fans flocked to the team’s HQ for a glimpse of Hamilton, as anticipation turns to the 2025 F1 season which starts on 16 March in Australia.
Yet Sky Sports F1 pundit Brundle, while noting that Hamilton is fully capable of winning a record-breaking eighth world championship this year, believes the Briton has declined slightly, particularly after a difficult qualifying record in 2024.
Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes, George Russell, had a 19-5 superior record in qualifying.
“Let’s imagine Silverstone last year,” Brundle said on Sky Sports News, when asked what Hamilton can achieve this year.
“When he had a chance to win the British Grand Prix, he won it. He won in Spa but that was a little bit lucky because George [Russell] got disqualified.
“Lewis was extraordinary all through practice in Las Vegas and then fluffed it in qualifying, something he didn’t used to do much, and then was extraordinary in the race. I think the speed is there.
"Do I think the best of Lewis Hamilton is ahead or behind him? I think it’s behind him. I think he’s lost an edge with age, as you do.
“Sometimes he gets in scuffles that he used to emerge out the front of, but he doesn’t now, or he’ll make a mistake in qualifying.
“But I think 96, 97 per cent Lewis Hamilton in a winning car is still good enough [to win the title].”
Hamilton will partner with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari this year as a new era begins. The Brit will take part in a Pirelli tyre test for the Italian outfit in Barcelona next week, before the season launch at the O2 Arena in London on 18 February.
