Former F1 world champion claims Lewis Hamilton 'no longer has the HUNGER' to win eighth title

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Former F1 world champion claims Hamilton 'no longer has the HUNGER' to win eighth title

Hamilton has recently signed a new contract to stay in the sport until 2025

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 8 September 2023 11:57

Former Formula 1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart has said that he doesn't think Lewis Hamilton can win an eighth world title as he 'no longer has that hunger'.

Hamilton, who like Stewart also has a knighthood for his services and achievements in motorsport, is currently tied with Michael Schumacher on seven world championships, and is looking to become the outright most successful F1 driver of all time by claiming an eighth title.

He has recently signed a new contract keeping him in the sport until at least the end of the 2025 season, giving the Mercedes team two more years to create a car that will get both him and his team-mate George Russell back to the top of the sport.

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Hamilton hasn't won a race since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021 and, since then, he has had the eighth title snatched away from him on the last lap of the 2021 season, before suffering two seasons in a car that's clearly not capable of winning regular races.

Meanwhile, rival Max Verstappen has gone on to dominate the sport with his Red Bull team, cruising towards a third consecutive title, and breaking the record last weekend for consecutive F1 victories, claiming his tenth in a row in Monza.

Despite keeping faith in Mercedes, rather than turning his back on the team who have provided him with so much success in the last decade, three-time world champion Stewart believes that it is down to Hamilton to prove he still has what it takes to be a world champion.

"First of all, Lewis is one of the best to have driven in Formula 1," Stewart told Bild.

"But the truth is that over the past decade he has raced with Mercedes for a team that has been virtually non-competitive. Lewis only had one real competitor during this period: his respective teammates.

"Up until 2016, he always emerged victorious from the duel. And then he lost to Nico Rosberg. With all due respect: a good driver, but not the most talented in the world. But Rosberg was just hungry, had the absolute will to become world champion. Lewis no longer has that hunger. Because of that – and because the car is no longer quite as powerful – he has serious problems."

Stewart doubts Hamilton will win another championship

Hamilton won six world championships between 2014-2020 with his Mercedes team

Before Hamilton signed his new contract with the team, there had been rumours that he may be looking to move to a different team in order to get fresh thinking behind his bid to become the most successful ever Formula 1 driver.

Depending on your viewpoint, that label already is a part of Hamilton's legacy in that he has won more races and gained more pole positions than anyone else in the sport, as well as tying with Schumacher for seven championships.

Ferrari had been the main team that Hamilton had been rumoured to have had conversations with, and it's easy to see why that pairing would work so well.

The team are desperate to once again win a championship having not won one since 2008, and the prospect of driving for the most legendary team in the sport, and following in Schumacher's footsteps was surely appealing to Hamilton.

Nonetheless, at least for the next two years, he will give Mercedes another opportunity to get themselves back to where they were just two years ago, claiming regular race wins and allowing Hamilton to challenge for the illusive eighth title.

Hamilton will be in his 40's by the time his new contract expires, and Stewart doesn't believe he'll look for a new team in the future, either. When asked whether he believes Hamilton can win another title, Stewart said:

"That also depends on Mercedes. It's not impossible, but I still don't think he'll be able to do it. And I don't think - despite the rumors about Ferrari - that he will change teams again."