Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone looks back on Lewis Hamilton’s world championship titles and what he thinks Hamilton is still capable of
Long-time Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone believes Lewis Hamilton had it “a little easier” than other world champions in his World Championship successes with Mercedes. Ecclestone said this recently in an interview with Sky in England.
Ecclestone continued: “I think there are phases in a person’s life when everything goes well – or doesn’t. Lewis was lucky to be around at a time when there wasn’t so much competition at first. When he won everything, there weren’t that many people at the top.”
Ecclestone is probably referring to 2014, 2015, 2019, and 2020, when Hamilton had to beat his Mercedes teammate to become world champion. In 2014 and 2015, he did so against Nico Rosberg, and in 2019 and 2020 against Valtteri Bottas.
2017 and 2018 were different: Back then, Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari was Hamilton’s main rival in the battle for the drivers’ title.
How many season winners were there in the past?
In fact, the turbo-hybrid era of Formula 1 from 2014 onwards was initially dominated by a small number of Grand Prix winners: apart from Hamilton and Rosberg, only Daniel Ricciardo won races for Red Bull in 2014, and in 2015, only Vettel in his Ferrari won alongside the Mercedes drivers. In 2016, there were four different race winners, and from 2017 onwards, there were seven per season – just like in 2024.
“Now there’s this competition,” says Ecclestone, and that could be one reason why the former Formula 1 boss has a clear opinion on whether Hamilton will become world champion again. Ecclestone’s answer is “no.” He doesn’t see Hamilton winning an eighth title.
“But I hope he still manages it,” says Ecclestone, before questioning the seven-time champion’s move to Ferrari, adding: “Whether Lewis can win the world championship where he is now is a completely different question.”
Hamilton does not believe in Ferrari victories in 2025
Hamilton himself recently ruled out the possibility of Ferrari being able to win on its own in the remainder of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Although Hamilton has already achieved his first success in red in the sprint in China, he is still waiting for his first Ferrari podium finish in a Grand Prix at the halfway point of the season – and is behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, who has already been on the podium four times this year, in the drivers’ championship with 103:119 points.