As a seven-time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton could be pushing himself and Ferrari “over the top” and “beyond the potential”, which may have become “counterproductive”.

That is the theory put forward by Hamilton’s former Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who was asked ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix for his thoughts on why Hamilton has struggled to make a red hot start to life at Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton win or fail mentality ‘counterproductive’ for Ferrari?

Russell spent three seasons as team-mate to Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, ahead of Hamilton’s blockbuster F1 2025 move to Ferrari, one designed to re-energise his career after three seasons without a Mercedes car which could put him in the hunt for a record eighth World Championship.

But, Hamilton’s Ferrari career has been something of a slow-burner thus far. He did win the Sprint race in China, and in Canada, outqualified new team-mate Charles Leclerc in back-to-back races for the first time, but Leclerc has scored all three of Ferrari’s podiums so far, and is 25 points up the road.

And Russell pondered whether Hamilton’s record-breaking F1 career creates the mentality that winning is the only option, which could hinder, rather than help Ferrari at this stage with McLaren having emerged as the standard of F1 2025.

“I think when you’re a seven-time World Champion, anything less than victory is failure, and you’re probably pushing yourself and your team over the top to achieve beyond the potential, to try and achieve these great results, and potentially it’s counterproductive,” Russell suggested.

“For sure, what I saw last year is that when he was on his A-game, he was a real competitor to me and he was driving amazingly. We saw it at Silverstone last year. Saw it China this year. You know it’s possible.

“But, for all of us, unless you’re in the orange car, at the moment, the chance of victory is slim, and for all of us, it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for me, it’s frustrating for Leclerc. Charles is such a great driver as well, and hasn’t had a shot at a championship properly, maybe 2022, slightly, but that’s the nature of this sport.”

Latest F1 2025 head-to-head standings

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A similar question was put to another of Hamilton’s former team-mates Fernando Alonso, the duo having formed McLaren’s line-up in 2007, Hamilton’s rookie season, and the only one which they spent together as team-mates.

“What’s wrong with him? I have no idea,” said Alonso.

“Lewis is a great driver, he’s capable of exploiting all his strengths.

“After 24 races, we’ll do the math: he’s struggling now, but he can turn things around very quickly.

“I don’t think the situation has changed much compared to last year with Russell. Then, the Mercedes was apparently difficult to drive and Russell was more comfortable. This year seems to be the same.

“But, it’s difficult to give an opinion without having all the information.”

Hamilton penned a multi-year deal with Ferrari, which will take him into the major revamp to the chassis and engine regulations coming for F1 2026.

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