Nico Rosberg has delivered a blunt assessment of Lewis Hamilton's hopes of finally landing a record eighth world championship, insisting that neither the Ferrari nor the 41-year-old's current form are good enough to make it happen this season.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Rosberg — Hamilton's former Mercedes team-mate and the man who denied him the 2016 title in their bitter intra-team duel — was asked whether his old rival could still reach the sport's summit one more time. His answer mixed admiration with a hard dose of realism.
"But to get the championship, the car is not good enough, and his level is not quite there yet, but hopefully he can still improve throughout the season," Rosberg said.
It is a verdict that stings precisely because it comes from someone who knows Hamilton's capabilities better than almost anyone on the grid. The two shared a garage for four seasons, traded the championship lead repeatedly, and pushed their relationship to breaking point before Rosberg walked away days after winning his only crown.
Yet Rosberg was careful not to write Hamilton off entirely. Asked whether the seven-time champion would deserve an eighth title were he somehow to find a way, the German did not hesitate.
"Yes, of course, and he would deserve it," he said, before offering a measure of optimism about the months ahead. "I think he will win a race at least this year."
The numbers explain Rosberg's caution. Hamilton sits fourth in the drivers' standings, three points adrift of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, with two podium finishes from the opening five races. The most recent of those came in Canada, where he crossed the line second behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli — the 19-year-old who has emerged as the early championship pacesetter.
That result hinted at the upturn many expected when Hamilton swapped Mercedes for Maranello. After a difficult debut campaign in 2025, his second year in red has shown clearer signs of progress, with the partnership between driver and team appearing more settled. But progress and title contention are not the same thing, and Rosberg's point is that the gap to the front remains too large to bridge over a single season.
For Hamilton, the challenge now is less about silencing the doubters than about extracting everything the SF-26 can offer. A maiden Ferrari victory — something Rosberg clearly believes is within reach before the year is out — would represent a significant milestone, even if the broader championship fight stays out of range.
Ferrari, for their part, have spent the season chasing the consistency that has eluded them. Leclerc and Hamilton have at times looked capable of challenging Mercedes and McLaren, only for the package to fall short when it matters most. Whether the Scuderia can close that margin will determine not only Hamilton's individual ambitions but the team's hopes of ending their long wait for a constructors' crown.
Rosberg's words, then, are unlikely to land as an insult so much as a challenge. He has seen Hamilton produce the extraordinary before. The question he has posed is whether, at 41 and in a car that is not yet the class of the field, the Briton has one more title-worthy season left in him.
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*Originally published on [News Formula One](https://newsformula.one/article/rosberg-hamilton-eighth-title-verdict). Visit for full coverage.*