Lewis Hamilton's age under the scanner as Nico Rosberg points to the driver's deficit against Charles Leclerc and George Russell 

Nico Rosberg has questioned whether Lewis Hamilton's drop in form was a result of the driver's age catching up with him. The 7x F1 world champion is now in his 40s, and the driver has found it hard to keep up with teammates in the last couple of years.

In 2024, Hamilton was in his last season with Mercedes, and it was quite clear that the driver was just a step behind George Russell throughout the year. For the most part, many put this down to the driver losing motivation, as that was the final year in the partnership.

In 2025, however, the change has been drastic. Lewis Hamilton has now moved to a new team in Ferrari, and even at the Italian team, it does appear that there is a clear case of the driver not being able to keep up with Charles Leclerc. In the first few races, this was put down to him still getting used to the car, but now it's been eight races.

The driver has only bested Charles Leclerc once in qualifying and once in a race. The question of Lewis Hamilton's form was put to Nico Rosberg during the Sky Sports telecast, to which the German felt that it could have potentially just come down to the age of the driver. He said:

“Even the greatest of all time, at some point, you are going to get a little bit slower. That's age-related. When you're 40, it's going to happen sooner rather than later. So the question is whether that age has come where you start to get a little bit slower."

He added:

“Even a tenth or something makes a huge difference in this sport, especially when you're up against some of the greatest from the new generation, which is Charles Leclerc, who's considered one of the absolute best qualifiers out there.”

Lewis Hamilton's form is a continuation of what happened with George Russell

Rosberg pointed out Lewis Hamilton's form in comparison to George Russell as well last season, where the driver struggled to keep up with his teammate. Nico felt that Lewis now has Charles as his teammate, a driver who is one of the best qualifiers in F1 right now, and hence, competing against him is going to be tough. He said:

“It's a little bit of a continuation of the form last year, where already there was a bit of a dip and George had the upper hand. He also finished ahead in the points. Now it's kind of continued, a little bit lacking here and there, especially [with] ultimate pace in qualifying. We know Charles is an incredible qualifier, so Lewis has to find a little bit more there.”

Lewis Hamilton will hope to put together a stronger front in the upcoming races, as with his current form, it makes it hard to find reasons to defend such a level of performance.