F1 legend Mario Andretti believes Lewis Hamilton is 'too human' and has lost his superstar status, while also comparing the Mercedes star to Michael Schumacher.
Hamilton and Schumacher both have seven F1 titles each.
But, as the Briton enters the twilight years of his career, he's struggling to keep pace with Red Bull rival Max Verstappen.
Hamilton has endured a nightmare start to the new F1 season, with the 39-year-old failing to finish last weekend's Grand Prix in Australia.
F1 news: Lewis Hamilton has been dubbed 'too human' amid his woes this season
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Gone are the days when he dominated the sport, with Verstappen winning the majority of races instead.
And 1978 World Champion Andretti, speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, has claimed Hamilton is now 'too human'.
He also compared the Stevenage-born racer to Schumacher, who failed to scale his old heights when he came out of retirement in 2010.
He said: “Lewis in his career has often had a means of trying to win, he didn’t need to bring out 100 per cent and so he rarely makes mistakes.
“Russell was fighting every minute with an uncompetitive Williams, when he switched to Mercedes he thought he had arrived in paradise and instead found himself fighting again: he is used to it and so he stays ahead of his team-mate.
“Hamilton seemed superhuman.
“Instead he too is human, as happened to Schumacher when after his successes in Ferrari he returned to F1 with Mercedes and the impossible no longer succeeded.
“But it will still be very interesting to see Lewis at the Prancing Horse, with his great desire to finish his career at Maranello.”
At the end of the season, Hamilton will leave Mercedes.
The Briton will move to Ferrari hoping to win a record eighth F1 crown.
But former racing star Christian Danner has criticised Ferrari for ditching Carlos Sainz in order to acquire Hamilton.
Sainz has impressed this season, despite being due to leave the team.
And Danner said: “If you want Hamilton, you’ve kept the wrong one because he [Sainz] is faster.
“But that’s highly political. He [Fred Vasseur] should have waited a little longer. It wasn’t a necessity.
“I wouldn’t blame Lewis for stumbling at the moment, but one thing is clear – Sainz in this kind of form – when he has Leclerc under control like this – you can say that he [Vasseur] perhaps made his decision too early.”
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F1 news: Lewis Hamilton has been compared to the Michael Schumacher that returned to action back in 2010
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Hamilton, for his part, has admitted he's currently experiencing a nightmare F1 start.
Speaking after last weekend's issues in Australia, the veteran said: “I mean, this is the worst start to season I’ve ever had.
“Surprisingly, I feel pretty good. I’m trying to keep things in perspective, you know, this like, could be so much worse.
“I’m really grateful. I’ve really enjoyed my time here in Australia, I’m still enjoying working with a team.
F1 news: Lewis Hamilton has endured a nightmare start to the new season
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"Of course, I’d love to be fighting for wins and actually finishing races.
“It’s never a great feeling when you come all this way, and you don’t see even half of the race, but what I know is that we will bounce back, we will eventually get there, we just have to continue to chip away.”
