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Ralf Schumacher has told Charles Leclerc that he ‘has to’ beat Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, as it is he who is the future of the team.
The Monegasque driver has been the face of Ferrari for years and has got the better of Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz. But after comfortably beating Hamilton in 2025, Leclerc is struggling to keep him at bay in 2026.
The seven-time champion feels at home with the car under the new regulations. Ferrari have been listening to his feedback, and it is Hamilton who is now leading the charge for the team as he sits third in the standings, while Leclerc is struggling to adapt.
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Ralf Schumacher says Charles Leclerc ‘has to’ beat Lewis Hamilton as he is the ‘future of Ferrari’
Leclerc is copying and pasting Hamilton’s setup for the SF-26. While he did win at Silverstone, he is having difficulty understanding the car and is currently sitting 39 points behind his teammate.
Many people now believe that the Brit is Ferrari’s team leader. In fact, Jolyon Palmer thinks Leclerc needs to start letting Hamilton past as the Maranello outfit look to take the fight to Mercedes.
The momentum is also starting to shift in Italy, as F1 fans rate Hamilton higher than Leclerc and even home hero Kimi Antonelli. For Schumacher, this is not how things are supposed to go.
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Speaking via Backstage Boxengasse, the former F1 driver believes that Leclerc ‘has to’ beat Hamilton. After signing his long-term contract, he should be the lead driver in the team, while his teammate could leave as soon as next year.
“There are no more excuses for them,” said Schumacher. “Sure, I mean, they’re both top-class drivers, but Leclerc has to beat Hamilton. That’s actually the way it is.
“He’s supposed to be the future of Ferrari with his new contract. He knows that too, and that’s why he’s always very self-critical. You have to give him credit for that.
“He really is very hard on himself. Fred Vasseur thinks he’s too hard on himself at times, but yes, we’ll see now. I think it’s all clicked into place now. It’s sometimes like that with a driver.
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“You struggle with the car for a while, and then at some point you realise – it can happen by chance – that when you go into a corner, unless you accidentally notice it’s different, ‘Oops, that’s actually much better, or completely different,’ and then you change your driving style.
“I think that’s what’s happened, and hopefully, it’ll stay that way, because I’d really like to see the rivalry between Ferrari.
“That’s always really interesting too, the expressions, the facial expressions of the two of them when they’re standing side by side and then doing an interview. I find that quite interesting.”
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