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F1 pundit Karun Chandhok has highlighted how Lewis Hamilton’s data from his victory at Barcelona two weekends ago ‘reminded’ him of one of Michael Schumacher’s greatest ever victories for Ferrari.
The seven-time world champion finally broke his duck with the Scuderia, following a string of strong results to begin the 2026 F1 campaign.
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Hamilton’s victory at the Barcelona Grand Prix was his 106th in the pinnacle of single-seater motorsports, and arguably one of his best.
Despite Mercedes’ 2026 dominance, the Briton was able to set the timing sheets alight in Montmelo, stretching out a 20-second gap to George Russell in P2 to take the chequered flag with the largest winning margin of the term so far.
It was a performance that looked like Hamilton had rolled back the years to the height of his career in F1, with Karun Chandhok feeling like he had gone all the way back to 1998 with none other than Michael Schumacher.
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Lewis Hamilton reminded Karun Chandhok of Michael Schumacher during Barcelona GP
Due to the fact that it took several years before Schumacher brought end-of-year silverware back to Maranello with him, Ferrari often had to rely on a stroke of genius from the F1 legend to hear the Italian national anthem after the race.
The 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix was a prime example of that, and bears some stark similarities to Hamilton’s feat a fortnight ago in Barcelona.
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The German executed a perfect three-stop strategy, with Ross Brawn’s “19 qualifying laps” radio message after he left the pit lane for the second time later being cemented in F1 folklore.
During Sky Sports F1’s Paddock Uncut ahead of Austrian Grand Prix, F1 pundit Karun Chandhok highlighted the deja vu he felt watching Hamilton pull off a similar feat in Montmelo as he assessed Ferrari’s chances for this weekend.
“It’s a power-sensitive circuit, so I think it’ll be a good test to see, as Lewis mentioned, the upgraded power unit,” he began. “He had fighting talk after the race in Barcelona, didn’t he? He said,’ I’m back to doing what I do best.’
“We should make that point because I feel like, as much as the strategists come up with the strategies, and they did a brilliant job there at Ferrari, the drivers have to execute that. Lewis started on the soft tyre, which was a bold choice.
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“Then they went to the hard, and there was a slight difference between what they and Mercedes did. But when he put that set of mediums on, it was extraordinary. That stint he did there, the gap went from 25 seconds down to 11 in hardly six or seven laps.
“That was key, and that’s where the great champions… It really reminded me of Michael Schumacher, who raced like that back in ’98. They changed the strategy at Ferrari, and he won it.
“The great drivers rise to the occasion, and that was Lewis back to doing that sort of thing.”
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