A former F1 driver has claimed that Lewis Hamilton could retire from the sport if Ferrari’s form does not improve quickly.

Hamilton’s fairytale switch to Ferrari has failed to materialise into a fight for a record-breaking eighth world title, and the seven-time world champion currently languishes 23 points behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ standings.

The 40-year-old’s frustrating season once again took a severe turn at the Spanish Grand Prix, where Hamilton was overtaken by the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and declared his own performance as ‘terrible’.

Similarly at Ferrari, Hamilton’s main weakness appears to be his qualifying speed in relation to Leclerc, but demonstrated in Barcelona that he is also lacking race pace after his team-mate managed to achieve another podium finish.

In addition to Hamilton’s temperamental relationship with the SF-25, the champion has also been involved in several tense exchanges with his race engineer Riccardo Adami, only fuelling the narrative that he is struggling to embed himself at Ferrari.