Ralf Schumacher fears there is a “danger” that Lewis Hamilton will not see out his Ferrari contract following his move from Mercedes for the F1 2025 season.

And he reckons the seven-time World Champion will not hesitate to retire if he feels he is no longer capable of competing at the top.

Will Lewis Hamilton complete his Ferrari contract?

Hamilton announced in February that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract – widely believed to be a two-year deal covering the F1 2025 and F1 2026 campaigns – ending his long and successful association with Mercedes.

The British driver claimed all but one of his joint-record seven World Championships with Mercedes, as well as becoming the first driver to surpass 100 grand prix wins and pole positions, following his move from McLaren at the beginning of 2013.

Mercedes also have the distinction of providing the engines for each of Hamilton’s 356 F1 starts to date, stretching back to his debut season in 2007.

Despite returning to winning ways with victories in Britain and Belgium, F1 2024 proved to be one of the most challenging seasons of Hamilton’s career having been dominated by Mercedes team-mate George Russell in qualifying conditions.

Russell started ahead of his team-mate at 19 of the 24 races across the season, leading Hamilton – who will celebrate his 40th birthday next month – to concede at the penultimate race in Qatar that he is “not fast anymore.”

Hamilton’s shock admission has raised suggestions that Ferrari have made a mistake by electing to replace Carlos Sainz, who will join Williams on a multi-year contract from next season.

Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, opened the door for Sainz to return to Ferrari at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, revealing that both parties have “already talked a couple of times” about a potential reunion in the future.

Asked if there is a risk that Hamilton will not complete his Ferrari contract, Schumacher – the brother of Michael Schumacher, the only other driver in F1 history to win seven World Championships – claimed Hamilton will likely walk away from F1 if he finds that he can no longer cut it at the front.

He told German outlet Sport1: “The danger is there if everything goes negatively.

“I think that when Lewis realises that he is no longer living up to his own standards, he will say so.”

Schumacher’s comments come after Eddie Jordan, the former F1 team owner, claimed that Ferrari chairman John Elkann “must have rocks in his head” to have replaced Sainz with Hamilton.

Jordan went on to urge Ferrari to back out of the deal to sign Hamilton, arguing that the driver’s admission that he is no longer quick enough should have alarm bells ringing at Maranello.

And he claimed Hamilton should retire gracefully from F1, suggesting that a lacklustre stint at Ferrari risks damaging his legacy.

He explained: “If you don’t believe 100 per cent, you’re f**ked.

“And at the moment I heard Lewis [admit that he’s] not fast enough anymore, if I was Ferrari I would say close the book, find the way out. That’s it.

“A little message to you, Lewis: always remember in life, you’ve got your music, you’ve got your fashion, you’ve got all sorts of other things.

“You are, in most people’s view, the greatest driver of all time. Please remember what I’m going to say to you.

“Always, always think about the best exit. And this is the time to take the money off the table. Go.

“You are an amazing ambassador. We absolutely adore you.

“But don’t put yourself in a position where we think less of you because you’re marking time out at Ferrari. That’s all I will say.”

After completing the last of his farewell appearances with Mercedes last Friday, Hamilton is expected to take a short break before officially starting his F1 2025 preparations with Ferrari in late January.

Reports in the Italian media last month claimed that Ferrari are set to document Hamilton’s first day with the team, which is likely to involve some on-track running at the Scuderia’s Fiorano test track.

Hamilton’s first taste of Ferrari grand prix machinery is set to be behind the wheel of either the F1-75 of 2022 or 2023’s SF-23, with F1 rules dictating that only cars older than two years can be used for private testing.

A number of design details regarding Ferrari’s F1 2025 car – codenamed Project 677 – have emerged over recent months, with the team set to switch to a pullrod front suspension layout favoured by the likes of Red Bull and McLaren.

A pullrod front suspension is believed to enhance airflow towards the car’s complex underbody, with the floor generating a significant proportion of the car’s overall downforce under the current ground-effect regulations.

The move towards a pullrod front suspension is said to have been directly influenced by Hamilton’s arrival, with his driving style closer in nature to new team-mate Charles Leclerc than Sainz.

Ferrari are also expected to retain their divisive pullrod rear suspension despite the departure of former technical director Enrico Cardile during the F1 2024 season.

Ferrari and customer outfit Haas are the only two teams still competing with a pullrod rear suspension, with their rivals opting for a pushrod layout.

It is thought that Ferrari see the pullrod rear suspension as a key factor behind the SF-24’s excellent tyre management, with Aston Martin-bound Cardile revealing the team found no significant differences between a pullrod and pushrod rear suspension layout when asked by media including PlanetF1.com at the launch of the 2024 car.

A revised wheelbase and adjustments to the internal mechanisms of the gearbox are also set to feature on the 2025 Ferrari.

Development of Project 677 is being led by former Mercedes engineer Loic Serra, who was appointed to the role of chassis technical director ahead of his Ferrari arrival in October having initially been recruited to work under Cardile.

Serra is understood to be trusted by Hamilton, having shared the driver’s reservations over the failed zero-pod design concept followed by Mercedes under former technical director Mike Elliott across 2022/23.