"Lewis Hamilton is going to come back with a bang": F1 insider warns Charles Leclerc

Former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg has warned Charles Leclerc of Lewis Hamilton's swift comeback in the second half of the 2025 season. Despite a slow start, Rosberg believes Hamilton's lows don't last forever and Leclerc has limited time to maximize his performance.

Hamilton hasn't fared well in the first nine races of the ongoing season, with his best finish being P4 in Grand Prix races. In the recently concluded triple header in Imola, Monaco, and Barcelona, the seven-time world champion showed slow signs of recovery with P4, P5, and P6 finishes, respectively.

On the other hand, his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc grabbed a podium in the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix after P2 in Monaco.

While Leclerc currently has an upper hand over Hamilton, the latter's former teammate Nico Rosberg has fired a warning at the Monegasque driver. He believes that Hamilton's lows don't last forever.

He added that Leclerc has two to three races maximum to dominate Lewis Hamilton while he is down and fly away in the championship race because once the 40-year-old makes a comeback, he will likely challenge Charles toe-to-toe.

Talking to Sky Sports, Rosberg said (via Planet F1):

"That was one of Lewis’s weaknesses. When he does get down on [himself], you have to pounce—because you don’t know how long it’s going to last. You know he’s going to come back with a bang, so you might have one race, two races, maybe three, and you have to maximise your points, because afterwards it will be very difficult again."

“So that’s a little bit his weakness, yes, but I would still say it’s a nuanced difference to Lando [Norris], who generally just doubts himself more permanently and a little bit more.”

Hamilton and Rosberg were teammates at Mercedes from 2013 to 2016. In 2016, the latter beat the former to win his maiden title and retired from F1 five days later.

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Lewis Hamilton engages in a downbeat interview with Rachel Brookes

Lewis Hamilton at F1 Grand Prix of Spain - Source: Getty

At the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton finished P6 after getting overtaken by Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg. He was more than half a second slower than his teammate Charles Leclerc, who got a podium at P3.

Meanwhile, in a post-race interview with Sky Sports' Rachel Brookes, Hamilton looked disappointed and had an awkward conversation. He didn't answer any questions in detail and seemed dejected.

"What do you want me to say? I've had a really bad day, and I've got nothing to say. It was a difficult day; there's nothing else to add, there's no point explaining it, it's not your fault, and what else is there to say?" Hamilton told Brookes (via The Race).

According to F1 pundit David Croft, Lewis Hamilton apologized to Brookes off the camera for lacking energy and enthusiasm during the interview.