Ferrari insiders worried Lewis Hamilton is still ‘chasing’ what he had at Mercedes

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Ralf Schumacher has shared what some insiders at Ferrari have been telling him about what Lewis Hamilton is doing behind the scenes at Maranello in the build-up to the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Lewis Hamilton finished 86 points behind Charles Leclerc in their first season as teammates last year.

Before joining Ferrari, the largest margin Hamilton had suffered against a teammate was Jenson Button in McLaren in 2011.

However, after failing to beat George Russell during his last year at Mercedes, that trend has now continued.

Is a lack of confidence the REAL reason why Lewis Hamilton has struggled at Ferrari?

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The Scuderia are making changes to try and help the seven-time world champion, with Riccardo Adami replaced as Hamilton’s race engineer for the upcoming campaign.

Hamilton won’t have a permanent race engineer in time for the start of pre-season, meaning that he won’t be able to create that necessary rapport ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

Ralf Schumacher has now spoken about how staff within the Ferrari set-up have told him about what Hamilton has been doing behind the scenes.

It’s believed that he’s still seeking what made him so successful while racing for the Silver Arrows, rather than trying to adapt to what’s already going on in Maranello.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Ralf Schumacher told Lewis Hamilton is not ready to change his driving style at Ferrari

Schumacher was speaking about how the most experienced drivers on the grid will adapt to the upcoming regulation changes on the Backstage Boxengasse Podcast.

Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are going to be two of the most interesting case studies, and Schumacher explained: “It’s impossible to say in general terms, as every driver deals with it differently.

“Based on my gut feeling, I would say that Fernando Alonso, even though he is getting on in years, has proven that he can handle the situation quite well.

“I would trust him more at this point. When I look at Lewis Hamilton, I would say that it has to work out.

“If not, then he has a bigger problem changing his driving style. You can hear from the team that he is always chasing after things he used to know and is somehow not really ready to change his style.

“If not, then he has a bigger problem changing his driving style. You hear that from the team, too, that he’s always chasing things he used to know and somehow isn’t really ready to change his style. So I’m curious to see how that plays out.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Lewis Hamilton’s behaviour behind the scenes at Ferrari is different to Michael Schumacher

Understandably, there have been a lot of comparisons between Hamilton’s first season at Ferrari and Michael Schumacher’s move in 1996.

It took Schumacher a long time to win his first championship with the Scuderia, but he was far more competitive during his first campaign than Hamilton.

Schumacher had the luxury of building a senior team around him at Ferrari and was the clear number one driver at Maranello.

Hamilton, on the other hand, doesn’t have that luxury and, at 41 years old, is unlikely to be afforded the same time as the Regenmeister.

It’s been suggested that Hamilton is acting differently from Schumacher at Ferrari, but whether or not that’s a bad thing is up for discussion.

The main point of contention appears to be whether the seven-time world champion has what it takes to adapt to the new cars quickly enough to challenge at the very front of the grid.