Former Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert has little doubt about who would excel if Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton climbed back into the same car. The two rivals already went head-to-head at McLaren. Judging from last season, Herbert lays his finger on the painful contrast between the two ex-champions, now veterans of Formula 1.
Where Fernando Alonso in 2025, tormented by unlucky retirements, squeezed the maximum out of his flawed Aston Martin, Lewis Hamilton suffered a painful reverse. His Ferrari debut came to nothing — partly because of a conspicuous lack of competitiveness at the Scuderia. “It was painful to watch,” Herbert said about Hamilton’s last season on the Stay On Track podcast. “I kept thinking: ‘Lewis, don’t do that. You’ve never done that before.’” In the closing triple-header the celebrated Brit was repeatedly eliminated in Q1. Moreover, for the first time in his glittering career he scored zero podiums over an entire Formula 1 season.
‘Hamilton has lost his way’
When Herbert then poses the hypothetical question of who would win in identical machinery, his pick is Fernando Alonso. “When I look at those two, I ask myself: ‘If they were given the same car, who would I put my money on? Unfortunately, I’d probably go with Fernando. He is, mind you, already driving a poor car. That Aston Martin is really not the best, but he manages to squeeze that little bit extra out of it. That is something Hamilton didn’t manage last year, and to be honest, that surprises me,” Herbert said.
According to Herbert, that has consequences for Lewis Hamilton himself. “I’m sure he’s very frustrated and shocked that he couldn’t get it done,” the former FIA steward concluded. “When I look at his face and at those interviews after the race, I see that he’s lost his way. He doesn’t understand what he needs to do to solve the problem.”
