Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying form could make Ferrari stint “a painful adventure”

2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg has warned Lewis Hamilton that his poor qualifying form could make his Ferrari stint “a painful adventure”.

Hamilton endured a difficult final year with Mercedes, particularly on Saturdays.

George Russell came out on top in the qualifying head-to-head, winning 19-5 against Hamilton.

It’s only the second time in Hamilton’s F1 career that he’s lost out in a qualifying head-to-head to a teammate - the first time was against Rosberg in 2016.

Speaking on the Sky F1 podcast, Rosberg explained why his ex-teammate will be concerned about his one-lap pace heading into next year.

“Especially going forward now. He has two years at Ferrari. He will 100 per cent be worried – what if this form of mine continues?” Rosberg said.

“Was it just the car, Mercedes? Or was it something else? What if this form of mine continues to Ferrari? If it does, it would be really quite a painful adventure because that’s not what Ferrari hired him for.

“Ferrari hired him to be on a level with Leclerc and fight for world championships. I think he will be very worried about that.

“We can only hope he finds back to his good old self with a reset at Ferrari and he’s once again the brilliant driver that we know.”

Hamilton’s form “weighing on his shoulders”

Hamilton’s run of poor performances in qualifying at the end of the year left him despondent.

It even led to a remarkable admission from him that he’s simply no longer quick enough.

While Hamilton remains up there as one of the “very best” in race pace, his poor qualifying displays are giving him too much work to do.

“The problem with our sport is that if you don’t qualify high up, you really struggle,” Rosberg added. “Even though he still seems to be at his very, very best in race pace.

“We’ve seen over and over again his race pace is just insanely strong. When you qualify poorly all the time, almost, and he says it himself – he’s just not quick enough in qualifying.

“That’s something that was weighing on his shoulders at the end of the year because when you get beaten race in, race out from your teammate who’s younger but, let’s remember, not a world champion. He’s just a four-time race winner.

“We insiders, we know that Russell is brilliant, but there are still some question marks because he’s not a world champion. When you get beaten all of the time – and in the case of Lewis, who is statistically the GOAT – that’s really tough.”