Steiner discusses potential sabbatical year for Hamilton amid troubled season

Even in the Netherlands, Lewis Hamilton was unable to redeem what has so far been a very difficult first half of the season, marked by many lows and few highs. The seven-time world champion returned motivated after the summer break, yet that determination did not translate into results on track.

While he managed to close the gap to his teammate in qualifying, Hamilton made an uncharacteristic mistake during the race, adding zero points to his tally.

The gap to the Monegasque remained unchanged due to the latter’s retirement following the collision with Kimi Antonelli, yet Hamilton remains the only one of the two Ferrari drivers not to have secured a podium so far, even after 15 Grands Prix.

In recent weeks, many have commented on the struggles Hamilton is facing this year, with some, including Bernie Ecclestone, even urging him to retire at the end of the season.

What about a sabbatical year instead? As a guest on GPblog’s F1 Today podcast, Gunther Steiner discussed this possibility, similar to what Fernando Alonso did in the past.

However, for the former Haas team principal, such a scenario does not seem feasible: ''I think it's too late now to take a sabbatical, because if you take a sabbatical when you're over 40, I think that will be difficult to come in and then have the motivation to come back.''

He then added: ''As much as it is fun to drive an F1 car, I think it is a difficult job to do. It is a full commitment at this age it makes it all more difficult.''

Steiner also highlighted that the negative perception surrounding the Maranello team this year is partly due to McLaren’s clear dominance, without which the outlook would be different.

''We say how bad everything is, but Ferrari is still second in the World Championship,'' he said.

Finally, Steiner concluded: ''Obviously, they are not achieving what they want to achieve to win races because they haven't won one yet this year.''