Photo: © IMAGO

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has been labelled a ‘disappointment’ by a former Formula 1 racer, as his problems at Ferrari continue to mount.

Hamilton joined Ferrari back in January, but has failed to turn them into a championship-challenging outfit, and instead the Brit is sat down in seventh in the drivers’ championship, two places behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Both Leclerc and Hamilton have struggled with a lack of pace in the SF-25 car, with Ferrari’s lowly fourth-place constructors’ championship position highlighting that the team have gone backwards since the end of last season, where they finished within 11 points of constructors’ success.

However, Hamilton’s performances have been particularly concerning, being outqualified by his team-mate on five occasions out of six main race qualifying sessions, and only managing one grand prix top-five finish.

Ralf Schumacher recently claimed that Hamilton may look to cut his time at Ferrari short, before the end of his contract, and now another former F1 racer has labelled him a ‘disappointment’.

Christian Danner, who raced in the sport on and off between 1985-1989, told Sport.de: “Actually, he’s a disappointment, albeit an understandable one.

“He probably thought he would come along, show Leclerc, Ferrari, and the world how to drive a race car, and be the saviour for the breakthrough to success.

“But it’s been very tough, very tedious, and not going smoothly to this day.”

Hamilton putting a ‘strain’ Ferrari relationship?

Danner also said that Hamilton has major ‘communication problems’ with Ferrari, potentially hinting at the seven-time champion’s rather sarcastic radio messages during the Miami Grand Prix.

Hamilton expressed his displeasure at how long it took for the team to orchestrate team orders between himself and Leclerc when he was on faster tyres during the main race in Miami, and took to team radio to tell his engineer to: “have a tea break while you’re at it.”

Later on in the race, Ferrari issued more team orders to swap the cars back around, with Leclerc finishing seventh and Hamilton one place further back in eighth. When reminded by engineer Riccardo Adami the gap to Carlos Sainz behind him, Hamilton cheekily responded: “Do you want me to let him through as well?”

All of this is adding to the narrative of a frustrated Hamilton, who came to the Maranello-based outfit hoping to challenge for an unprecedented eighth world championship title.

Schumacher also pointed out recently that Hamilton’s recent team radio messages to Adami may be putting added ‘strain’ on the relationship, with Hamilton himself admitting he told team boss Fred Vasseur to ‘calm down’ when he was approached about the messages after the race.