‘I don’t see much good anymore’ – Dutch pundit’s Lewis Hamilton ‘past his prime’ verdict

Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes garage.

Lewis Hamilton is “past his prime” and while he may finish on the podium when he moves to Ferrari, he won’t achieve an eighth World title, according to an F1 pundit.

Three seasons after losing the 2021 World title to Max Verstappen, little did anyone – Hamilton included – realise that year would be the last time to date the Briton would win a Grand Prix, never mind fight for a championship.

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Such has been Mercedes’ form in Formula 1’s ground-effect aerodynamic era, Hamilton has called time on his career with the Silver Arrows and will instead join Ferrari in 2025.

His final season with Mercedes is not the swan song either the driver or team wanted.

Hamilton has recorded his worst-ever start to a Formula 1 season with just ten points in four Grands Prix, while the team is only a point ahead of Aston Martin in the fight for fourth place.

“It’s all just so bad,” Dutch racing driver Michael Bleekemolen told RacingNews365. “I think he’s past his prime.

“Things aren’t going well for him either. I don’t see much point in him anymore.”

And it won’t get better when he joins Ferrari with Bleekemolen saying: “Maybe he will end up in the top two or three again, that could just be possible. That won’t be easy, but it would be nice. I just don’t think it’s going to happen.”

As for whether Hamilton could still win a record-breaking eighth World, he simply said: “No.”

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But it’s not just a case of Hamilton is past his prime, he, like the rest of the field, is up against this generation’s standout star in Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman is marching towards a fourth successive Drivers’ Championship as he breaks one Formula 1 record after another.

Bleekemolen is not surprised by Verstappen’s achievements, with the 74-year-old adamant it is the driver and not the car. After all, he’s beating Sergio Perez in the same car.

“I actually fully expected this and I have always said that,” he said. “Max is simply the best and you can always see that very well, that is after the start. Then within a few laps he is already one or two seconds.

“And that has nothing to do with the car being better, because Perez drives behind him and cannot do that.

“I think that he [Perez] is like the rest of the drivers from the top teams. He is at the level of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

“And there is only one who stands out among all those people. You always see it in all classes, there is always someone who does better. And it often has nothing to do with the difference in the car, it’s about the fact that he can handle everything a little more adeptly.

“I don’t see anyone beating Max.”

He added: “He just wins because he is better. That is clear. I think if you put him in a Ferrari, he will win races this year. Maybe that [the title] too, because he’s just better.”