Eddie Irvine says Lewis Hamilton hasn’t learned the most important lesson from Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari move

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Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has so far not delivered on the hype that was generated throughout the pre-season, with the seven-time world champion yet to finish on the podium.

It was a poor start to the second half of the season when Hamilton crashed out of the Dutch Grand Prix, then he was handed a five-place grid penalty for a yellow flag infringement at Ferrari’s home race in Monza.

Hamilton managed to fight back to sixth place but missed out on the opportunity to challenge for a podium, having originally qualified in fifth place.

Ferrari currently lie second in the Constructors’ Championship, but that could change now that Red Bull have found a breakthrough with their car in Monza. Ferrari are effectively relying on the misfortune of Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes and poor performances from Yuki Tsunoda to prevent them from finishing second.

Discussing why Hamilton has struggled to find his feet at Ferrari in an interview with Sky Sports F1, former driver Eddie Irvine thinks the seven-time world champion has not learned from what Michael Schumacher faced when he made the move in 1996.

Eddie Irvine thinks Lewis Hamilton left Ferrari move ‘too late’

Schumacher made the switch to Ferrari in 1996 after winning two titles with Benetton the previous year, amid a win drought for the Italian team.

Ferrari had only won two races between 1990 and 1995, while it took Schumacher a while before he eventually found title success with the team.

Even though Ferrari came close to winning the Constructors’ Championship in 2024, Irvine feels Hamilton has not learned from the challenge Schumacher faced in his early years.

“There is always a price. Michael gave up a lot, probably two or three world championships to leave Benetton to go to Ferrari. In the first few years, nobody had any idea how bad it was at Ferrari,” said Irvine.

“Michael knew there was no point for him because he was so much better than everyone else, he just decided, ‘I’m going to go there’ and it was amazing.

“People forget it took him four years. He was always in the vicinity, but he was driving the wheels off the thing to be there. So it was very easy for it not to happen. I would love Verstappen to come to Ferrari, I hope he doesn’t leave it too late like Lewis did.”

Ferrari situation unlikely to improve in 2025

Like all of the teams on the grid, Ferrari have now switched focus to development of their 2026 F1 car for the new chassis and power unit regulations.

It presents an opportunity for the team to reset, now that Ferrari are currently dealing with a problem that Hamilton experienced while at Mercedes with their 2025 challenger.

Hamilton said it was ‘unbelievable’ seeing the Tifosi fans at Monza during his comeback drive, which shows that he is still motivated to achieve results for the team.

Martin Brundle thinks Hamilton is coming to terms with the fact that Leclerc is now faster than him this season, with the Monegasque now leading him 12 to 4 in the qualifying head-to-head.