Before the summer break, Lewis Hamilton was visibly dejected after a bad race weekend, calling himself useless. Former F1 driver Riccardo Patrese refutes this. Speaking to an unnamed betting site, Patrese said, "First of all, I don’t think Hamilton is useless! For sure, he has a bad moment because he’s not providing the performance that he would like to have."
Hamilton is 'one of the best' in Formula 1
Patrese believes that Hamilton's previous experience is working against him as he has only ever worked for British teams. He pointed out that the teams are different while mentioning Hamilton adapting to the 'Italian philosophy' of
Ferrari.
However, Patrese can admit, "Ferrari also has some problems. For many years, they have not been able to provide a winning car like a McLaren at the moment. The motivation for a champion like Lewis is to have a car that can give him the possibility to win a world championship. Ferrari, I don't think, has the potential to do that.”
Lewis Hamilton during the Hungarian Grand Prix
The six-time grand prix winner added, "Lewis for Ferrari could be very, very useful because he has a lot of experience working with a winning team and he knows the keys which you need to find a good balance in the team."
“If I can give him advice, I should say, ‘Don’t be so sad! You proved in the past that you are one of the best Formula 1 drivers in history." Patrese does see a 'hungrier' Leclerc as Hamilton's teammate does not have any world championships compared to his seven. Regardless of Hamilton's lacking in comparison to Leclerc. The Italian still believes Hamilton can win his eighth.
"If the car becomes a winning car, Lewis has no problem winning the eighth championship"