Back in Ferrari’s heyday in the early 2000s, Michael Schumacher was the pivotal figure in their seamless F1 operation that dominated the sport for half a decade. Schumacher reached the summit of seven world championships in the Rosso Corsa of Ferrari.
Two decades later, another seven-time world champion — Lewis Hamilton — is coming to try his luck with the Prancing Horse. While Hamilton’s objective and circumstances of joining Ferrari differ from that of Schumacher, the hype around his arrival in Maranello has been on a similar tangent.
So, one would expect the British driver to get the same priority treatment that Schumacher got. However, reality is far from the same.
In the 20 years since Schumacher last won the championship for Ferrari, the sport has evolved a lot, and so has the team from Maranello. While they have had this culture of having a #1 driver whom the team is centered around, the demands of modern-day F1, including a super competitive grid, don’t allow them to do so.
F1 journalist Nate Saunders highlighted the same on ESPN’s Unlapped podcast while talking about Ferrari’s dilemma of balancing two superstar drivers in their lineup this season. While Hamilton matches — or perhaps even surpasses Schumacher’s caliber — Charles Leclerc is definitely a much more talented driver than Eddie Irvine or Rubens Barrichello.
“He [Schumacher] was clear number one and then he had some poor teammate [Irvine/Barrichello] who basically just had to carry water for the whole time. That’s not the way Ferrari does things now,” Saunders explained.
Charles Leclerc has been talking up his future Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, describing 2025 as “an incredible opportunity” to “prove myself” against F1’s most successful driver ever – who Leclerc calls “a benchmark for everybody”. pic.twitter.com/umETAjyHs7
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Saunders feels Ferrari will have to let Hamilton and Leclerc “fight” each other on track to determine who deserves the team’s priority. With the Scuderia looking strong to produce a championship-contending car in 2025, both drivers could certainly be in the hunt for the drivers’ title.
If so, they will need to figure out a way to fight cleanly while not ruining the team’s overall result for the Constructors’ championship. Saunders believes that Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is the perfect man to manage this situation with the pragmatic approach that he has shown over the past two years.
Who will prevail between Leclerc and Hamilton?
With Hamilton coming off three subpar and frustrating seasons with Mercedes, the 40-year-old could take time to get up to speed at Ferrari. Leclerc has the advantage of knowing the team and the car, having raced with the Prancing Horse for six seasons to date.
It is safe to say that the Monegasque driver could easily beat Hamilton, at least in the first half of the 2025 season. That said, the seven-time world champion is no slouch and has been keen to adapt to Ferrari’s car concept and work culture pretty soon to kick off his 2025 campaign on a positive note.
With a lot of private testing and simulator work going on right now, Hamilton could start matching Leclerc sooner than expected. Nevertheless, the 2026 season could show a better picture of who is the better driver between the two.
As of now, Leclerc needs to stamp his authority to avoid losing the impetus of getting Ferrari’s priority for a claim on the drivers’ title, whenever the opportunity arises.
Meanwhile, Hamilton is highly motivated to secure his record-breaking eighth championship with the Scuderia, and the way they are set for the 2025 season, he knows this season could be the perfect chance to regain his lost crown.
