Coulthard compares Hamilton to Schumacher: 'Not as good as first stint...'
F1 News
After the final tripleheader of the season, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton will part ways in their Formula One journey. In a blockbuster move, the seven-time world champion will join Ferrari, while Mercedes have promoted youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Formula 2. David Coulthard has compared Hamilton to the only other seven-time world champion of the competition, Michael Schumacher.
This will only be Hamilton's second change in his career: After starting his journey at McLaren, the Briton joined Mercedes back in the 2013 season. After more than a decade, he will now move to Ferrari, to team up with Charles Leclerc, and team principal Frederic Vasseur, who he worked together with before reaching Formula One.
By the time the Briton will suit up as a Ferrari for the first time in 2025, he will turn 40. According to former driver David Coulthard, Hamilton's age is a relevant question to ask, and it is up to the seven-time world champion to answer that next season. "The key ingredient of all of the greats over the history of time has been to be able to qualify and race. And if Lewis, at 40 years old, has lost a yard in footballing terms, then he may well struggle to beat Charles over the course of a year," he told The Mirror.
"That is a legitimate question that anyone should be asking, but it is for him to show us. It is not about us putting him down and saying he cannot do it, because it is in his hands," the former McLaren and Red Bull driver added.
Hamilton compared to Schumacher
Making the switch the other way around, Michael Schumacher returned to Formula One in the 2010 to sign with Mercedes. Hamilton later joined the team after the German retired for the second time. After his return however, Schumacher ended up scoring a single podium at the 2012 European GP hosted in Valencia.
"Mercedes does not exist for Lewis Hamilton, and Lewis Hamilton has made it clear that he does not exist for Mercedes. In the same way, when Michael came back from retirement to sign for Mercedes, it was really shocking to imagine him being anything other than a Ferrari legend," Coulthard continued.
"But the draw of coming home to Mercedes, the desire and belief that he could do it still, brought him in. He did a couple of years, he did okay, but it was not the same as how he was in his first stint in Formula 1," he concluded.
In 2024, Hamilton still has three weekends to complete with his current team, starting in Las Vegas next weekend. During the current season, the British driver could already get back to winning way for the first time since 2021: He won at Silverstone, and then also ended up winning the Belgian GP after George Russell's disqualification.
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