Hamilton handling problems 'the wrong way'? Ralf Schumacher has his say

The first part of the season has not been kind to Lewis Hamilton, who surely expected a stronger start to his Ferrari adventure. After the first fourteen races, he has scored just 109 points and, aside from his sprint win in China, has yet to reach the podium.

Adding to this are statements Hamilton made throughout the year, especially during the last Grand Prix in Hungary, which did not sit well with Frederic Vasseur. The team principal described the seven-time world champion as overly self-critical at times and excessively harsh in his judgments.

The Frenchman also added that he had underestimated the adaptation period Hamilton would need when moving from a radically different team like Mercedes to one like Ferrari, with a completely different philosophy and culture.

Speaking specifically about the Englishman’s situation on Sky Sports’ Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Ralf Schumacher commented: ''Hamilton finds himself in this situation, and you could have predicted it would take time.''

The former German driver also agrees with the French team principal’s perspective: ''I agree with what Fred Vasseur said, that Hamilton is handling it the wrong way. When you behave like he did—remember at the start of the year, there was already some mishandling—then rumors come up that he might retire, and he says, “I’m not retiring; now it really starts.”