Sep.24 (GMM) Ralf Schumacher has launched a fresh critique of Lewis Hamilton, warning Ferrari risks imploding unless tensions between the seven-time world champion and the team are addressed.
In Baku, the 40-year-old endured another troubled weekend – criticised for failing to swap positions back with Charles Leclerc on the final lap, and openly angry about being eliminated in Q2 after disagreeing with Ferrari’s tyre call.
But Schumacher told Sky Deutschland’s Backstage Boxengasse podcast that Hamilton has only himself to blame. “He has to take the blame himself, with his experience and his power,” the former Williams driver said.
“I wasn’t a seven-time world champion, I only won a few races, but if I wanted a certain tyre, I got it. There were no discussions at all.
“Ultimately, the driver is the one who has to implement it, knowing best what the conditions are like out there. A normal engineer would never interfere with a driver’s performance.”
According to Schumacher, Hamilton has grown accustomed to being over-managed at Mercedes. “That would fit the image that was often a theme with Toto Wolff – ‘Drivers are there to drive. We don’t involve them in decisions at all, we just tell them what to do.'”
He urged Hamilton to toughen up.
“Lewis has to assert himself and not look for the mistake elsewhere. Then qualifying will look different – that’s what you’d expect from a seven-time world champion,” said the German.
Schumacher also questioned the chemistry between Hamilton and his Ferrari engineer, Riccardo Adami. “The way they treat each other isn’t good,” he said.
“Then there’s Lewis’s criticism of the team. I’m sceptical of the combination. And then there’s this failure to swap back with Leclerc before the finish line. Ferrari has to do its work internally, otherwise it’ll tear itself apart from within.”
He said team boss Frederic Vasseur should not shy away from confronting the problems. “A thunderstorm clears the air, then it’s a thing of the past.”
Schumacher continued: “They simply need to talk openly with each other. The limits and expectations need to be defined.
“If Lewis no longer has trust in the team, and vice versa, that would be a great shame. Because if mistrust develops, then it’s better to go their separate ways at the end of the year.”
Meanwhile, Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport described the depressed mood around Ferrari. Journalist Giulia Toninelli argued the main problem remains the car, not the drivers.
“Not even the star duo that the Maranello team boasts, the most expensive on the entire Formula 1 grid with a combined salary of EUR 70 million – 40 million for Hamilton and 30 million for Leclerc, excluding bonuses – is enough to deliver results on the track in the absence of a car that can make the two champions competitive,” she wrote.
Team boss Vasseur, however, struck a more optimistic note.
“I’m not worried about next year,” he insisted. “I’m convinced we have a team that can win, but we need to improve in every aspect and maintain this approach.”
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