Red Bull star backed to replace Lewis Hamilton in 'nasty' warning

Former F1 owner Bernie Ecclestone has cautioned Lewis Hamilton to walk away from F1 before something "nasty" befalls the seven-time F1 drivers' champion.

The 94-year-old also forwarded two possible candidates to replace his compatriot at Ferrari, including a rising star of the Red Bull programme.

Ecclestone - who was at the helm of F1 from the 1970s through to 2017, when he sold the championship to current owners Liberty Media - believes Hamilton is "cheating himself" by continuing to race.

After joining Ferrari from Mercedes over the winter, the 105-time grand prix winner has endured an underwhelming and wretched start to life with the Maranello-based team.

His despair at the situation reached a zenith at the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, chastising himself as "useless" and suggesting the Scuderia ought to "change driver" after qualifying a lowly P12.

Such is the painful reality of his current situation, Ecclestone has called on Hamilton to stop taking the "risk" of racing in F1.

"I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to Lewis," the British business magnate said to Mail Sport.

"He’s not fighting for a world championship and is at a stage of his life when it wouldn't be worth him spending two years laid up in bed with a broken back or anything else nasty.

"He doesn’t need to take the risk any longer. He’s won seven world titles and that is quite enough."

Two highly-touted Ferrari options

Ecclestone, who also believes Ferrari should buy out the remainder of Hamilton's contract, went as far as to suggest some potential replacements for the 40-year-old.

The former Brabham team owner zeroed in on two emerging young talents, both of whom have seriously impressed the F1 establishment over the first half of their rookie campaigns.

"If I could steal him, I’d take Isack Hadjar from Racing Bulls," he added. "He has done super well in his first year and is a great guy.

"I also rate our friend from Brazil [Stake driver Gabriel Bortoleto]. He is talented. Both of them are sensible, too."

The former has scored points in six rounds, including a point in the Spa-Francorchamps sprint, with a best finish of sixth in Monaco. He has also yet to be eliminated in Q1.

Meanwhile, the latter is quickly coming into his own, taking sixth place at the Hungaroring and outperforming team-mate Nico Hulkenberg 8-6 in their qualifying head-to-head across the opening 14 rounds of the season.