Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that Lewis Hamilton should offer to step aside at Ferrari, provided the Italian constructor coughs up the remainder of his reported £120million contract. The Brit has suffered two brutal race weekends in succession, battering his confidence heading into the summer break.

Hamilton’s Ferrari stint started with dreams of an eighth Drivers’ Championship title, and Ferrari’s first since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, but things haven’t panned out how anyone expected. After 14 races, the Brit remains without a podium finish - his worst start to an F1 season - and he now sits 42 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who narrowly missed out on a sixth trip to the rostrum in 2025 after starting the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position.

Following qualifying at the Hungaroring, Hamilton was particularly downbeat, describing his performance as “useless” and suggesting that Ferrari need to “change driver”. Ecclestone, 94, backed up the seven-time world champion’s comment, but under one condition.

“Lewis is very talented, was and probably still is,” Ecclestone told the Daily Mail. “But like a lot of leading sports personalities, when they reach the top, there is only one way to go, and it’s not a good direction. It’s only down. They get tired. Lewis is tired. He’s been doing what he is doing forever.

“He needs a rest from it for good, a total reset to do something completely different. He may not think it, but he will soon get used to doing other stuff away from motor racing in retirement. I think he should have done it a while ago.

“The guy is not a cheat. But he would be cheating himself if he goes on. He should stop now. If I were looking after him, I would negotiate with Ferrari immediately and say, ‘If you have someone to replace Lewis, he’ll step aside.’”

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Ecclestone continued: “If I were Lewis, I would say to Ferrari that I wanted to be paid all my contract, in full. They signed him because they thought he could do a job. ‘It isn’t working, so I can I can make way if you want me to, but that’s the arrangement.’ It could work for both parties.”

Hamilton’s Ferrari contract, which runs until the end of the 2026 campaign, is worth a reported £60m per season, with the Scuderia also committing to investment in the 40-year-old’s numerous charitable enterprises.

If Hamilton were to take up Ecclestone’s suggestion, the former F1 supremo believes that star rookies Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto would be strong contenders to replace him. Ferrari also have access to Oliver Bearman, who is driving for Haas while remaining part of their young driver stable.