Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has backed Lewis Hamilton to make a shock early exit from Ferrari.
Except for his sprint pole and win in China, the seven-time F1 champion has endured a troublesome start to life at Ferrari.
Over the opening five rounds, Hamilton has been comfortably adrift of team-mate Charles Leclerc and visibly dejected in the media pen by his current struggles with the SF-25.
Despite being on a multi-year contract with the Maranello-based team, Schumacher has insisted that he has seen signs in Hamilton that point to retirement.
"He just can't handle the car," Schumacher told Sky DE's Backstage Boxengasse podcast. "We talk a lot about Lando, but I think it's almost worse with Lewis.
"He's starting to slump, and that worries me. I know what it's like. I used to drive myself, of course. And when you stand there at one point and you run out of aids and are slower and slower...
"Think back, for example, to Silverstone [last year], where he cried with joy, because he said, 'I can still do it'. He's just losing it now. I know that from my own experience. If at some point that doesn't stop, then it's not fun anymore.
"Then at some point he wakes up in the morning and thinks, 'Why am I doing this to myself? I don't enjoy it anymore. I can't do it anymore. I can't handle it. I'm getting in the way of my team'. And I really see that happening."
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Summer deadline
The saving grace for Hamilton is next year's regulation change, which could offer the 40-year-old a chance to fight for a title.
Ferrari is expected to be in a good place for 2026, leaving the 105-time race winner seemingly needing to get through this season.
It has been a difficult campaign for Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc, in what is one of the standout driver pairings in F1 history.
Schumacher hopes Ferrari can turn its situation around or risk its star signing making a major decision this summer.
Schumacher continued: "I know I will get a lot of criticism again, but if it continues like this until the summer break, there is a danger that he will say, 'I don't want to do this anymore. I want to live my life now. I'm 40 and I'm rich. I'm not doing this to myself anymore, because I'm not performing at the [right] sporting level anymore'.
"So I hope he gets order in the team soon. I mean, it's a huge project they have planned, but at the moment, he's far from there.
"And as for Charles, exactly what I suspected at the beginning of the year has come true. I didn't think it would be so extreme.
"But China, of course, was an indicator. If the circuit suits him, he delivers. So there is still something to come."
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