David Coulthard suggests Lewis Hamilton may have lost his decisive edge over teammates

Former F1 driver David Coulthard has theorized that Lewis Hamilton may have lost a crucial "half a tenth" of performance, explaining his recent inability to dominate teammates George Russell and Charles Leclerc as he did throughout most of his career. This subtle decline, Coulthard suggests, mirrors the natural erosion of pace that eventually signals a driver's peak has passed.

Why it matters:

Hamilton’s legacy is built on relentless speed and an almost unprecedented ability to consistently outperform his teammates, a key metric of a driver's raw talent. If Coulthard's theory holds weight, it points to the inevitable impact of age and motivation, even on a seven-time champion, and reshapes the narrative around his recent struggles and his high-profile move to Ferrari for 2025.

The details:

• Coulthard, reflecting on his own retirement decision, stated the moment comes "when the stopwatch stopped talking to me," drawing a parallel to Hamilton's situation.
• He speculates Hamilton has lost the tiny margin—around 0.05 seconds per lap—that previously gave him supremacy over every teammate.
• The data supports a shift: After dominating teammates like Valtteri Bottas during Mercedes' turbo-hybrid supremacy, Hamilton's record against George Russell since 2022 has been far more balanced.
• His 2024 season at Ferrari has been particularly telling, with Hamilton frequently trailing Charles Leclerc in both qualifying and race pace, a rarity in his McLaren and Mercedes tenures.
• Hamilton has been vocal about disliking the current generation of ground-effect cars, but Coulthard's theory points to a driver-specific decline rather than just machinery.

What's next:

All eyes will be on Hamilton’s final season with Mercedes and his subsequent integration at Ferrari. The 2025 season will serve as the ultimate test of Coulthard's theory. If Hamilton can reassert clear dominance over a top-tier teammate like Leclerc or close the gap significantly, it will disprove the notion of a faded edge. If the intra-team battle remains tight, it may confirm that the sport is witnessing the final chapters of one of its greatest talents, competing on guile and experience rather than outright, unmatchable speed.