Lewis Hamilton blasts grumpy old F1 pundits

Lewis Hamilton has defended F1’s rookies against former drivers-turned-pundits that he described as ‘older drivers that didn’t achieve much’.

The 2025 F1 season has seen teams trust young drivers with an opportunity in the sport, with the likes of Kimi Antonelli, Ollie Bearman, Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto all enjoying their first taste of the premier motorsport class.

Not only are these young stars under pressure to perform at their teams, but also fans and the media scrutinise their every move, more so than the likes of Hamilton or Verstappen ever received when they first entered F1.

The seven-time world champion empathised with the spotlight F1's rookies have found themselves thrust under, and announced his support for youngsters like Antonelli and Bearman.

“It’s great to see young talent coming through. You know, I remember getting here in 2007 and being one of them,” Hamilton said to the media at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

“It’s an amazing experience, but before you get here, you have all these preconceived ideas of what it would be like and most often, it kind of doesn’t equal to what you amounted it to be.

“Maybe the driving does, but then there’s all the other things that are around, and the pressure is hugely high, and these youngsters are getting bombarded with questions and obviously the social media. But I think they’ve all been handling it really, really well.”

Hamilton defends young F1 talent

Hamilton then delivered a brutal assessment of former F1 drivers that are overly critical of young talent, and added: “I’ve really always wanted to be a driver that’s… even when I leave here, I will always be someone that’s supporting the young, the youth.

“You know, you hear so many of these negative things coming from these older guys, these older drivers that more often than not, didn’t achieve much as it is.

“And I think I just love to see these guys that, just keeping their heads down, doing it with a smile and doing what they love and succeeding. So I’m as excited to see the progression of their careers.”

While the likes of Antonelli have endured a rocky maiden campaign in F1, the Italian has turned his performances around of late and claimed second place at the Brazilian GP, finishing ahead of grand prix winner and team-mate George Russell.

Bearman too has put in consistent and measured performances, bar a few rookie errors in 2025, steadily climbing up to 11th in the standings ahead of Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon - and has even been mentioned as a potential replacement for Hamilton at Ferrari.

READ MORE: Former F1 boss calls Gabriel Bortoleto's mother 'stupid' live on TV

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