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Lewis Hamilton will retire from Formula 1 as soon as he accepts that he is not going to achieve his final dream of a fairytale Ferrari title. That's the view of former F1 team boss Guenther Steiner, who believes the seven-time world champion, now aged 41, "cannot" make it eight with a Ferrari team which this season, once again, looks to be a step behind its rivals.

The Scuderia began the year as the chief challengers to Mercedes and believed they had built a chassis that was every bit as good as the Silver Arrows, but were lacking in terms of engine power. But even a sizeable aerodynamic upgrade package in Miami did not seem to make much difference, while Mercedes continue to win and McLaren have now emerged as their closest rivals.

Having endured a terrible debut season with Ferrari, Hamilton appeared revitalised after the winter break and began the year strongly, including a podium in China which ended his long wait for a top-three finish. But, other than that, he has been off the pace set by team-mate Charles Leclerc again for the most part.

That has contributed to suggestions that this may end up being Hamilton's last year on the grid after all. Former F1 racer Ralf Schumacher last week told the Brit "it's time to retire", while some F1 reporters have speculated that he might use July's British Grand Prix to confirm his future plans - though there is currently no credible evidence that this could happen.

Having shared the paddock with Hamilton for many years as Haas team principal, Steiner believes the Brit will need to accept that his title dream is dead before he will give any serious thought to retirement from the sport. "Last year was very difficult for him," he told Casino.org. "It was difficult for Ferrari as well. There was a lot of pressure bringing the seven-time world champion in, the GOAT in and he was not performing.

"I think the question of how long he stays in F1 depends on how much success he wants to have, because he doesn't have to prove anything to anybody anymore. He only wants to prove to himself that he can still do it. At some stage he will say he's had enough of this, but I think when he realizes that he cannot win the eighth world championship in a Ferrari, that is when he will say, 'I want to stop' .That's when a seat will open up for Bearman."

Ferrari signed Oliver Bearman to their academy as a teenager and he has established himself on the F1 grid with customer team Haas with some impressive performances and eye-catching results. It's understood the Brit, 21, is Ferrari's number one choice to replace Hamilton when the time comes, and that is a promotion that Steiner believes Bearman is ready for.

He added: "I think Oliver now is ready to go to a team where he can win races or at least go to the podium. He's had his learning with Haas, he had good results last year with Haas, he will have good results this year, but then you need to move on if you want to go to the podium. If you can do it as a driver, you need to have the machine to do that as well, and now, I think that is not where he is."