Bernie Ecclestone's controversial advice: Time for Lewis Hamilton to step back from F1?

Former F1 owner and British business mogul Bernie Ecclestone has made unsavoury comments about seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, recently suggesting he should walk away from the sport.

Ecclestone was speaking to the media about rumours swirling around the paddock regarding a possible partnership with Christian Horner to buy Alpine – which he refuted. He claimed Hamilton had a better chance of winning an eighth world title than he did of buying Alpine with Horner.

Ecclestone owned the F1 brand from the 1970s until 2017, when American company Liberty Media acquired the rights. During his tenure, he oversaw the rise of former champions such as Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

He claimed Hamilton was doing himself a disservice by continuing to race. The 94-year-old’s negative stance has been fuelled by Hamilton’s recent struggles with Ferrari, notably the widening performance gap between him and team-mate Charles Leclerc during qualifying.

At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton started in 12th place while Leclerc began from pole, prompting an unusually harsh self-assessment from the Brit, who described himself as “useless”. He went on to finish the race in P12.

Ecclestone went as far as to suggest Hamilton should “throw in the towel” before something “nasty” happened to him.

"I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to Lewis. He’s not fighting for a world championship and is at a stage in life when it wouldn't be worth him spending two years laid up in bed with a broken back or anything else nasty. He doesn’t need to take the risk any longer. He’s won seven world titles and that is quite enough,” Ecclestone said.

After Hungary, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur admitted that Hamilton was highly demotivated but still willing to "throw the kitchen sink in" at 40 years old.

Hamilton, however, maintains that racing is still his first love – something that’s become increasingly evident given his continued focus on the sport and lack of off-track distractions. Still, his love affair with racing has been a real struggle this season.

Adapting to the Ferrari SF-25 and finding its optimal performance window has proven challenging throughout the year.

“I still love racing. When you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There’s a lot going on in the background that is not great,” Hamilton said after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The 40-year-old enters the summer break 42 points behind team-mate Leclerc and nearly 200 points adrift of championship leader Oscar Piastri. The road to an eighth world title is now a dark and misty one, with the option to step back and reassess perhaps looming larger than ever.

Hamilton previously stated that this season would serve as a foundation for a renewed championship bid next year, but he may not have anticipated just how tough the transition to Ferrari would become.