Herbert hands a 'lost' Hamilton a 'horrible truth'

At the Spanish Grand Prix, the lack of pace for the 40-year-old was apparent, as it has been all season, with Hamilton forced to let teammate Charles Leclerc past in the opening part of the race, eventually finishing P6 after even being overtaken by Nico Hulkenberg in the Sauber, with the Brit calling the race "the worst of his career".

A sprint race victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, along with a P3 during the Miami Grand Prix sprint race, has given Hamilton a couple of brighter patches in what has been a gloomy season, securing only two top-five finishes in the first nine races of the season.

"It just looks like Lewis Hamilton is lost, really lost," Herbert tells a betting website.

"It’s not the first time we’ve seen it in the sport, though," the former steward explained. "Nigel Mansell won his championship in 1992, went to America in 1993, came back in 1994, and it didn’t work anymore for him. It happened with Michael Schumacher too, when he had his break and came back, then he wasn’t the same Schumacher as before. You’re always going to have your peak and the end of your peak. It’s not nice to see."

Another factor in Hamilton's disappointing performances is the poor cooperation with his race engineer Riccardo Adami: "There have been a couple of poor decisions in Ferrari’s strategy and poor communication over the radio. Hamilton doesn’t have the synergy with his engineer that he needs. He hasn’t found his comfort zone since the sprint win in China," states Herbert.

"Leclerc is only going to grow and is in control of Ferrari’s future. He’s the guy they can rely on; Ferrari can’t rely on Lewis Hamilton at this point. It’s horrible to say, but it’s the truth," Herbert said with a painful conclusion for the Brit.