“Bro HATES Lewis”: Fans react as former F1 boss suggests Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari replacement

Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who has often given controversial takes on Lewis Hamilton, suggested that he should retire from the sport while listing out the potential replacements that could fill in for the Briton at the Scuderia. This enraged fans, who asserted that the 94-year-old hated Hamilton, as his current suggestion fell in line with his past statements.

Hamilton had shocked the paddock with the news of his arrival at Maranello last year. This alliance was touted as the best driver-team pairing in history. While many had high hopes, expectations soon faced a dearth of results as Hamilton has yet to score a Grand Prix podium with the team in the 2025 season.

With the 40-year-old facing one of the biggest lows of his career after a torrid Hungarian GP, Ecclestone claimed that Lewis Hamilton should move away from the sport to do something entirely different. The former F1 boss mentioned two potential candidates in his eyes, as he named Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto to replace the seven-time champion, via Daily Mail:

'If I could steal him, I’d take Isack Hadjar from Racing Bulls. He has done super well in his first year and is a great guy. I also rate our friend from Brazil (Gabriel Bortoleto). He is talented. Both of them are sensible, too."

However, these comments did not sit well with the F1 world, as a fan said:

"Bro HATES lewis lol."

Karan

@Karan8263

Bro HATES lewis lol

"Ecclestone talking negatively about Hamilton? Sky is blue and grass is green," one fan wrote.

"Who gives an F what this dinosaur thinks. He’s a bigot," another fan wrote.

Fans further expressed their discontent with Ecclestone's statements and wrote:

"Who really gives two f**ks about what Ecclesrone thinks, he’s always been a lewis hater. Anyway it’s so clearly gonna be Bearman when Lewis retires," one netizen wrote.

"What’s Bernie’s obsession with Lewis?😂," another wrote.

"what is bro blabbing on about at this point😭," a fan shared.

On the other hand, after qualifying for the Hungarian GP, Hamilton even went on to claim that Ferrari should replace him with another driver, suggesting that the Briton was not entirely happy with his performance with the team.

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Ferrari supremo asserts he doesn't need to motivate Lewis Hamilton despite dip in form

Lewis Hamilton at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary - Source: Getty

Team principals are often understood to intervene when one of their drivers faces a subpar run of races, an unfortunate occurrence similar to Lewis Hamilton's. Subsequently, this posed questions about the Briton's stay at Ferrari and whether he was content with the Maranello-based squad.

Though many reckoned that Ferrari's team principal, Fred Vasseur, might need to motivate Hamilton, the Frenchman thought otherwise, as he claimed that the 40-year-old was just frustrated and not demotivated. He said in a post-race interview after the Hungarian GP, via F1's official website:

"I don’t need to motivate him. Honestly. He is frustrated but not demotivated. It’s a completely different story."

Lewis Hamilton's streak of scoring points at every race weekend came to an end at the Hungarian GP after the Briton finished 12th at the checkered flag.