David Coulthard makes hopeful prediction for ‘loved up’ Lewis Hamilton

David Coulthard has told talkSPORT that Lewis Hamilton might be able to rediscover his form and compete for an eighth Drivers’ title.

Despite the swap from Mercedes to Ferrari last season, Hamilton struggled to find his feet – but in Formula 1 testing last week, the red car looked like it might be able to help him be a contender again.

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At testing in Barcelona, the Brit set the fastest lap across the whole week with 1:16.348.

In addition, the team based in Maranello had the paddock talking in Bahrain after another three days of trials, that they have got the fastest car, especially during long runs.

Although, predictions based on pre-season testing are normally unreliable due to teams running different tyres and fuel loads, accurate comparisons are difficult to make.

However, there is no reason why the team and Hamilton can’t be excited by the results after F1 had its latest regulation change ahead of the new season which starts in Melbourne.

And David Coulthard, a 13-time winner in Formula 1, light-heartedly told talkSPORT that Ferrari and the most successful driver of all time might be able to dream of winning the title this year for a very special reason.

Coulthard, who drove for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, said: “I spoke to Max [Verstappen] a couple of days ago and when I asked him ‘Who are your competitors?’ he went anyone with a Mercedes engine.

“Well, there’s three teams that have got Mercedes engines. Mercedes themselves, McLaren, and Williams.

“Williams look a little bit on the back foot. So right now if you had to place a bet, then probably George Russell for world champion is not a bad bet.

“But never write off Max. And I was reading earlier that Ferrari have been quite good on the long runs.

“So maybe a newly loved up Lewis Hamilton will rediscover his form and he’ll win his eighth world title.”

The British racing driver has sparked dating rumours in the last month with Kim Kardashian after being spotted visiting a hotel in the Cotswolds, which cost £19,000 a night.

In addition, the pair were also spotted at the Super Bowl together in San Francisco where the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13.

Coulthard might be positive but at the second pre-season testing in Bahrain, where Hamilton’s team mate Charles Leclerc went fastest on day two, the Brit still spoke out against the new regulations.

He said: “None of the fans are going to understand it, I don’t think. It’s so complex. It’s ridiculously complex.”

“I sat in a meeting the other day and they’re taking us through it and it’s like you need a degree to fully understand it all.”

“If you look at Barcelona, for example, we’re doing 600 metres lift and coast on a qualifying lap. That’s not what racing is about.”

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On talkSPORT, Coulthard was asked about the comments from Hamilton and specifically Max and understood where they were coming from.

“At the end of the day, when it comes to racing, when the lights go out, you just want to be fast and you want to be first. He’s [Max] in, believe it or not, his 12th season of Formula 1. So, he’s been around for a few years. He’s built the respect of his competitors.

“He’s got the right to have an opinion in terms of the driving experience. But he’ll not be thinking about that when he gets to Melbourne.

“He’ll just be thinking, right, how do I exploit this potential to the best of my ability? And there’ll be a winner at the end.

“That’s the wonderful thing about racing. Once all the talking stops, it’s about the stopwatch and it’s about the chequered flag.”