Lewis Hamilton is now acting differently from Michael Schumacher behind the scenes at Ferrari

Follow us on Google Discover

The man that any driver who races for Ferrari wants to emulate is Michael Schumacher, but Lewis Hamilton’s first season with the team couldn’t have been further from the German’s past glory.

Michael Schumacher didn’t achieve immediate success when he made the switch from Benetton to Ferrari in 1996.

He won his first championship as a Ferrari driver in 2000, but Lewis Hamilton doesn’t have that sort of time on his side.

Hamilton could still be a Ferrari driver into 2028, but that might all hinge on how well Fred Vasseur’s team handle the upcoming regulation changes.

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

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Damon Hill thinks Hamilton will walk away if he’s not competitive this season, and that could trigger a chain reaction in the driver market similar to what happened when he announced his Mercedes departure.

One of the people in the F1 paddock who knows Hamilton and Schumacher best is Jock Clear.

Clear has just been replaced by Riccardo Adami, Hamilton’s old race engineer, in Ferrari’s academy, but he told journalist Mark Hughes what he noticed was different between the two seven-time world champions during his time working with the pair.

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

Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher had different confidence levels at their peaks

Hughes was speaking about Hamilton on The Undercut Podcast with Hill and his prospects for 2026 and beyond.

He said: “I think Lewis, probably more than most drivers, is probably susceptible to the whole confidence thing.

“At his peak, I was talking to Jock Clear about this, and he was making a contrast between Michael Schumacher and Lewis as he’d worked with both.

“This was peak Lewis at Mercedes, and he always operated from a position of well, I’m the fastest guy, so if the time’s not reflecting that, you need to find out what’s wrong because it’s not me.

“Whereas he said with Michael, it was different. Michael was, ‘I need to get everything possible on my side against me, because maybe Mika Hakkinen can drive a car faster than I can. So I can’t allow him to beat me.’

“So, I think that confidence probably helps you when everything’s going well.

“That certainty that you can do this better than anybody else, and I think he had that, and it does power performance.”

READ MORE: Everything to know about Michael Schumacher, from F1 career to net worth

What Lewis Hamilton now has to do to follow in Michael Schumacher’s footsteps at Ferrari

Although this season’s cars are likely to develop at a rapid rate, qualifying in Melbourne is going to be a crucial indicator of how competitive Ferrari will be this season.

If Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are near the front of the grid, then there’s hope for both drivers that they can achieve their championship ambitions with the Scuderia.

However, if the SF-26 is off the pace, then there’s very little recent evidence of Ferrari being able to develop their cars in-season, and that could have big consequences.

Leclerc is already being linked with other teams, and Vasseur’s team principal role will be under even more pressure.

Hamilton has been told how he needs to follow in Schumacher’s footsteps at Ferrari to have the best chance of succeeding.

He’s going to need time and the full support of everyone around him at Maranello, and if some Ferrari staff believe that Leclerc is their best bet of winning that elusive championship, then that brings Hamilton’s title ambitions to an end.