Ex-F1 Racer Backs Fernando Alonso to Beat ‘Lost’ Lewis Hamilton in Head-to-Head Fight

Lewis Hamilton is suffering from a woeful spell in his run with Ferrari. The Briton had already pointed out that he wasn’t looking forward to the new regulations of the 2026 season. Still, Hamilton is more confident than ever and is aiming to start the new season on the right foot. However, amid the preparations, ex-F1 driver and snubbed FIA steward Johnny Herbert believes that the seven-time champion will lose out to Fernando Alonso in a head-to-head fight.

Fernando Alonso was matched up against rookie Lewis Hamilton at McLaren back in 2007. Though Alonso was a two-time world champion by then, he still lost out in terms of standings against Hamilton during the latter’s debut year in Formula 1. This meant that people held the Briton to a very high standard from the beginning of his career. However, now, things are very different, and the seven-time champion is suffering from a poor spell with Ferrari, similar to the Veteran at Aston Martin.

Speaking on a potential comparison and battle between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, Johnny Herbert could not decide one with ease. He thought about it long and hard about who he would bet his money on to win between the two Veterans. Though Herbert did not have a resounding answer, he still shockingly picked Alonso to eke out and win against Hamilton in a head-to-head battle.

Johnny Herbert acknowledged that Fernando Alonso was in a very bad car with Aston Martin currently. Still, the 44-year-old was able to squeeze out some impressive performances in an already struggling state with the Silverstone-based constructor. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton consistently failed to perform well and was cracking under pressure at the Italian constructor.

If I look at those two, and I go, ‘right, which one would I expect, if he were given the car, which one would be the one I put my money on? Unfortunately, sadly, I’d probably go [with] Fernando. Fernando, he’s in a bad car in that Aston Martin. It’s not the best. It’s sort of there or thereabouts sometimes. But he’s able to sort of squeeze that extra something out of it.

Johnny Herbert said on the Stay On Track podcast.

Johnny Herbert claims Lewis Hamilton is ‘frustrated and shocked’ with poor Ferrari run

Lewis Hamilton was certainly very disappointed following his debut season with Ferrari. The Briton even deemed his first season with the team a nightmare. Despite giving it his all, Hamilton was unable to find an out from the struggles, and his performance only worsened every race weekend. As such, Johnny Herbert predicted what the 41-year-old might be feeling from the inside.

Johnny Herbert reckoned that the grid never witnessed even glimpses of positive performance from Lewis Hamilton over the 2025 season when compared to Fernando Alonso. Herbert claimed with surety that the seven-time champion was frustrated and shocked with the situation, and wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. The former driver recalled that the seven-time champion was usually lost during interviews following a poor performance in a race.

I never saw that happen last year with Lewis, which I’m sort of shocked that we never ever saw that, I’m sure he’s very frustrated and shocked that he wasn’t able to do it. And then I look at his face and those interviews after the race, and you go, he’s lost. He cannot understand what he needs to do to get around the problem he’s got.

Johnny Herbert noted.

The 2026 season will introduce new regulations, and with that, a performance resurgence from Lewis Hamilton. The Briton had known issues during the ground-effect era, as he believed that they ruined his F1 prime. As such, he hopes to emerge as a much better force in the coming season and keep up with the dream he joined Ferrari with.

Read More: Ford Reveals How Much Red Bull Needs Max Verstappen for 2026 Fight

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