Hamilton told to be honest over F1 retirement

Johnny Herbert says Lewis Hamilton has reached the point in his Formula 1 career where the key is no longer motivation, but knowing when to stop.

Speaking on the Stay On Track podcast, the three-time grand prix winner said Hamilton, now 41, must be "honest" with himself when the sport no longer feels as natural as it once did, rather than staying on too long.

Herbert said he has no doubts about Hamilton’s commitment. "Probably the one thing I would probably say, if I was close to him, was be honest," he said. "There is a point where things aren’t going to be as easy as they once were." He added that Hamilton’s competitiveness "is probably not going to be where it once was," and that the moment will come when he has to admit: "It’s not quite where it was, and I’ve got to go. I’ve had my time."

That, in Herbert’s view, is the real pressure point for Hamilton at Ferrari. He said Hamilton is still "thoroughly pushing himself to the limits" and remains motivated, but is also "being tested by Charles" Leclerc, the younger team-mate Herbert described as "that next generation."

Herbert linked that directly to his own experience at the end of his career. "When all is going well, it seems easy," he said. "But I remember that at the end of my career, it wasn’t as easy, and it’s there that I said to myself the time had come."

Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion who joined Herbert on the same podcast, suggested Hamilton is unlikely to be swayed much by outside opinion anyway. Hill said Hamilton built his career by doing things his own way, asking: "Can you give anyone like Lewis any advice of any kind whatsoever?" He said Hamilton has "proved a point" by following his own judgment rather than other people’s.

The discussion comes after a difficult first Ferrari season in 2025, when Hamilton failed to score a podium and a run of negative comments raised questions about his future. Herbert called it an "awful time," but said Hamilton has returned in 2026 with "a much better frame of mind" and appears to have accepted that he is at a different stage of his career.

That is what makes Herbert’s argument more pointed than a simple retirement call. Hamilton’s start to 2026 suggests he is still competitive enough to run at the front. He claimed his first Ferrari podium with third place in China and sits fourth in the drivers’ standings after three rounds, just behind Leclerc.

For Herbert, that means the issue is not whether Hamilton is finished now. It is whether he can recognize the moment when age, performance and the pressure of a younger benchmark inside Ferrari finally stop lining up in his favor.