Toto Wolff makes Lewis Hamilton prediction after dismal Ferrari form

Toto Wolff believes Lewis Hamilton is still capable of winning an eighth F1 world title, "if he has the car underneath him."

Hamilton has stated he does not intend to retire from F1 until he wins his record-breaking eighth drivers' crown, eclipsing the joint record of seven he holds with Michael Schumacher.

He lost out on that eighth title in controversial circumstances to Max Verstappen in the 2021 finale, but since then, Verstappen has swept to all three titles. 

For 2025, Hamilton decided to move to Ferrari in the hopes of breaking Schumacher's record with the Scuderia, and ending the long drought the team has endured for a drivers' champion - the last being Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.

However, in the summer break of his first season with the team, Hamilton is yet to record a grand prix podium, and even claimed after qualifying 12th in Hungary that he was "useless" and that the team needed to look for "another driver."

It is well-known that Hamilton's driving style has a fundamental disconnect with the ground-effect cars, which are set to be replaced by all-new machines for 2026.

Wolff, with whom Hamilton won six of his seven titles and 84 of his 105 grands prix, believes his former driver still has the quality to become F1's first octuple world champion. 

"I think if he has the car underneath him, and has the confidence in that it does what he wants, then yes," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365. 

"If he has a car that is not giving him the feedback that he wants, like the Mercedes of the last few years, and what seems to be the Ferrari [this year], then not. 

"But if you’re asking me whether he still has it, he definitely has."