Lewis Hamilton may not have the “raw speed” he once had that carried him to a record 104 pole positions – but that’s okay as F1 World Champions are made on “Sunday” where the new Ferrari driver is still “the best.”

That’s the opinion of former F1 driver Nicolas Kiesa as the seven-time World Champion gears up for his first season as a Ferrari Formula 1 driver.

Lewis Hamilton ‘no longer has the raw speed’ of yesteryear

This season marks the beginning of a new storyline in Hamilton’s 19-season Formula 1 career with the most successful driver in the sport’s history teaming up with the most successful team. And there’s just one goal in mind: a record-breaking eighth World Championship.

Hamilton already holds the Formula 1 records for the most grand prix wins (105), most pole positions (104) and he’s level with Michael Schumacher on seven titles.

He last lifted the World Champion’s trophy in 2020, his sixth and final Drivers’ title with Mercedes, before Max Verstappen dethroned him with a last-lap-of-the-season pass at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

But unable to regain the crown in the ground-effect era, Hamilton has thrown the dice one last time with his switch to Ferrari.

Analysis: Lewis Hamilton’s mega-millions move to Ferrari

👉10 biggest sports deals in history: Where does Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari salary rank?

👉Lewis Hamilton net worth: Where does he rank against football icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

And it seems for every pundit, fan or former F1 driver who believes he can win No.8 with the Scuderia, there’s one who doubts that it is possible.

Part of those doubts stem from the 40-year-old losing his 2024 head-to-head battles against George Russell, including the intra-team qualifying tussle, only his second loss to a team-mate in 18 years.

That had Hamilton declaring last year: “I’m definitely not fast anymore.”

However, former F1 driver Kiesa, who contested a handful of races with Minardi in 2003, isn’t concerned about that as he declared Hamilton is still up there with the “best” on Sundays.

“He no longer has the raw speed for qualifying that he had ten years ago,” Kiesa told Danish news agency Ritzau, “but he may still be the best at driving a steady and fast pace over a race distance.

“Whoever becomes World Champion is the one who does the Sunday races most effectively. Hamilton has the experience and one of the best minds of anyone on the grid.”

The Dane, though, did have a word of caution for the seven-time World Champion as he swaps Brackley for Maranello and English for Italian.

“It’s special going from an English team to an Italian team,” Kiesa said. “I’ve been there myself and you really have to get used to things being done differently.

“First of all, there’s a language barrier, which will be a challenge at first. You don’t know the right phrases and the reaction time will be slower as a result of that.”

Hamilton has been learning Italian and even gave a short speech to Ferrari personnel in Italian, much to the delight of his new team members.

Read next: Lewis Hamilton’s ‘incredible feeling’ after first SF-25 test outing