Lewis Hamilton has 'lost love and passion' for F1 claims former rival

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has 'lost love and passion' for F1 claims former rival

Hamilton and Piquet Jr were rivals in 2008

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 18 April 2026 15:55

Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton 'doesn't have the love' for the sport anymore, according to a former rival.

Hamilton is currently racing in his 20th season as an F1 driver, and in that time he has won everything there is to win, including seven drivers' championship titles.

He is the most successful F1 driver of all time, and is still racing at the top level, currently sitting fourth in the 2026 drivers' standings.

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Hamilton banished his Ferrari podium hoodoo earlier this year at the Chinese Grand Prix, and he is looking to claim a first grand prix victory since the 2024 Belgian GP this season in a fast looking SF-26 car.

But his former rival Nelson Piquet Jr has now said that Hamilton has lost a lot of his passion and hunger for F1 compared to Fernando Alonso, Piquet's former team-mate who is still racing in F1 at the age of 44.

Hamilton actually prevented Piquet from claiming a victory at the 2008 German GP, with the Brazilian being on a one-stop strategy and taking the lead of the race after a fortunately-timed safety car. Hamilton then overtook him later on, but Piquet finished a career-best second in that race.

Remarkably given the fact that Piquet Jr has not been seen on the F1 grid since 2009, Hamilton is actually a year older than the Brazilian, further showcasing 41-year-old Hamilton's incredible longevity in the sport.

Piquet Jr on Hamilton, and Alonso

"Lewis doesn't have the love and the passion and the hunger that Fernando still has," Piquet Jr told SoyMotor.

"Fernando is similar to Max, he loves racing, he's a racer, very very fast, an extremely fast guy. When I was racing with Fernando it was in his prime, you know, we're talking about 20 years ago nearly.

"So Fernando was really on top of his game so he was a very very tough guy to beat on a weekend.

"20 years past and he still has the same hunger, he still has the same passion, it's something very admirable because you don't see the same thing for Lewis for example."

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Hamilton's brutal training regime

While Piquet Jr's comments might paint a certain picture of Hamilton in F1 2026, the seven-time champion himself has recently revealed that he is certainly not taking things easy.

Hamilton suggested that he works harder than any of his other rivals to try and stay fit enough to be right at his peak during race weekends.

"I've not lost what I've had, and regardless if some of you or people who write that, I'll continue to show up and I'm training harder than ever," Hamilton told media at the Japanese Grand Prix.

"I was in Tokyo between this race and the last race, I ran, like, 100km. I know that none of the drivers I'm racing against have trained as hard as I have and given it what I have, especially at my age as well.

"I love that, that I still have that drive to push myself. I was at the hotel and several drivers walked in and I finished my runs and I know they're just getting up. The commitment is there more than ever and I dedicate absolutely everything I have now to this challenge and to the target that I have."

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Fernando Alonso Nelson Piquet Jr