Lewis Hamilton is already being compared to Michael Schumacher by longtime members of Ferrari. According to the team’s former engineer, Rob Smedley, employees who have been in Maranello for more than two decades recognize similarities between the two seven-time Formula 1 champions.
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The assessment comes at a time of recovery for the Briton, after his first difficult season with Ferrari in 2025. With the new technical regulations of Formula 1, Hamilton secured his first win for the team in Barcelona and accumulated other podiums, reaching the August break in second place in the drivers’ championship.
Smedley, who worked for a decade at Ferrari during the Schumacher era, stated that Hamilton has also triggered a positive change in the team’s environment: “When you have a driver of his level, the team simply feels 1% more capable,” said the former engineer on the High Performance Racing podcast. He added that the staff ‘absolutely love’ Hamilton and recognize his ability to win titles again in F1.
In Smedley’s opinion, the influence of the seven-time champion is not limited to results: “He is also pushing the team. He is pushing in the right way, and they recognize that,” he added, highlighting how Hamilton demands progress from Ferrari members.
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The comparison gains weight due to the impact Schumacher had on the team after his arrival in 1996. At that time, Ferrari had not won the drivers’ title since 1979, nor the constructors’ title since 1983, but the German helped transform the team and won five of his seven championships between 2000 and 2004, in addition to contributing to six constructors’ titles.
For Smedley, this trajectory helps explain the perception of those who have followed Ferrari for a longer time: “The guys who have been there for twenty years or more recognize the similarities between Lewis and Michael,” he concluded.
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