Lewis Hamilton blasts “older guys” who “didn’t achieve much” in fresh criticism

Lewis Hamilton has criticised “older guys” in F1 who he feels have been too detrimental in regards to the sport’s youthful era of drivers.

F1 has seen six rookies make their full-time debuts in 2025.

Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Isack Hadjar and Franco Colapinto have all confirmed that they deserve a spot on the F1 grid.

Lawson remains to be ready to listen to whether or not Purple Bull will retain him for subsequent yr at their junior group.

Colapinto’s new Alpine contract for 2026 was introduced in the course of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend.

Hamilton, who has usually been criticised over time by “older guys” reminiscent of Bernie Ecclestone, has defined why he’s eager to help the brand new era of expertise.

“It’s nice to see younger expertise coming by. You recognize, I bear in mind getting right here in 2007 and being one among them,” Hamilton stated in Brazil.

“It’s a tremendous expertise, however earlier than you get right here, you could have all these preconceived concepts of what it will be like and most frequently, it form of doesn’t equal to what you amounted it to be.

“Possibly the driving does, however then there’s all the opposite issues which can be round, and the strain is massively excessive, and these kids are getting bombarded with questions and clearly the social media. However I feel they’ve all been dealing with it actually, rather well.

“I’ve actually all the time needed to be a driver that’s… even once I depart right here, I’ll all the time be somebody that’s supporting the younger, the youth. You recognize, you hear so many of those detrimental issues coming from these older guys, these older drivers that as a rule, didn’t obtain a lot as it’s.

“And I feel I simply like to see these guys that, simply conserving their heads down, doing it with a smile and doing what they love and succeeding. So I’m as excited to see the development of their careers.”

Hamilton on critics

Hamilton’s change to Ferrari was extensively criticised.

The likes of Ecclestone, Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher all questioned the signing.

In an interview with Time Journal, Hamilton hit again on the doubters.

“I’ve all the time welcomed the negativity,” he stated. “I by no means, ever reply to any of the older, in the end, white males who’ve commented on my profession and what they suppose I needs to be doing.

“The way you present up, the way you current your self, the way you carry out slowly dispels that.”

Hamilton’s first yr at Ferrari hasn’t gone to plan, failing to complete on the rostrum at any of the 21 races with the group.

His foremost spotlight stays his dash race win in Shanghai.

After his DNF in Brazil, Hamilton described his first season at Ferrari as a “nightmare.”