Lewis Hamilton won’t be afraid to depart Mercedes and seek a challenge at another Formula 1 team, believes Martin Brundle.
Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 and has enjoyed unprecedented success, winning 82 races and securing six world titles with it, adding to the triumph he had with McLaren in his early F1 years.
However, 2022 marked an off-form campaign for Mercedes as it was unable to consistently compete at the front of the field.
It took one race victory with George Russell, while Hamilton endured his first win-less year in F1.
The season-opening 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix earlier this month was also a difficult outing for Mercedes, who once again was off the front-running pace.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Brundle pointed to previous examples of World Champions leaving teams at which they had great success.
“I do think overall, when we look at the picture, we talk about him, there’s a lot of good reasons to stay at Mercedes,” he said.
“They just need to tell him how they’re going to sort this out. But Senna left McLaren to go to Williams, Schumacher went off to Ferrari, it took a long time but [he] made that work.
“These great drivers are not scared of going somewhere and then galvanising and getting a lot of new people around them and making something happen.
“There must be a part of Lewis that goes ‘I’d love to go to Ferrari, do a Michael Schumacher and really turn that back into [a championship-winning team]. If I can’t win my eighth or ninth now, why don’t I go have some fun there?’
“I’m sure these are all playing in his mind and he’ll be talking to his dad about this and his management team about ‘where do we go from here?’
“That will be exacerbated by the dismal performance in Bahrain of the car.”
Hamilton is currently contracted until the end of the 2023 season, but has stated on multiple occasions that he is hoping to extend his stay with Mercedes beyond the current campaign.
I just wish Lewis Hamilton would stop being so nice and either leave Mercedes, or get tougher on them! He doesn’t have the time to hang around, waiting for Mercedes to fix the issues. If they haven’t been sorted by now, will they ever? I know there is no crystal ball for these things, but I think it’s Lewis who needs to step out and make that bold decision for himself. It’s his career, his world titles, his time, his life! And the fans don’t want to wait for Mercedes any longer …..we’ve had enough! Whatever Lewis decides to do, I hope he puts himself first. No-one is going to think badly of him for taking control of his life and moving on.