Schumacher: "Hamilton is obviously distracted by side issues"

Lewis Hamilton was just short of teammate Valtteri Bottas in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend and made two mistakes in his flying lap, for which he was finally punished. Is Hamilton really sharp? Ralf Schumacher doubts it.

The 2020 Formula 1 season offers Lewis Hamilton the chance not only to match Michael Schumacher's record seven world titles, but also to surpass his record number of victories (91). Prior to the season, Hamilton recorded that only COVID-19 could stop him from doing so, Ralf Schumacher thinks Hamilton's position is a little too easy.

"I have to say this about Lewis. In an interview he claimed that the only thing standing between him and a world title is the COVID-19 pandemic. He clearly underestimated his teammate," said the six-time Grand Prix winner in front of the camera at Sky Deutschland. While Bottas won the race, Hamilton was mainly in the news because of other things.

"It has to be said that Lewis is dealing with a lot of side issues at the moment. He's done less of that in the past. It's obviously a distraction", Schumacher probably refers to Hamilton's very active social media campaign around the racism theme.