Lewis Hamilton is trying to mark his own era at Ferrari, but can’t help but hark back to Michael Schumacher’s days in red.
The Brit is trying to eclipse the German legend on seven titles, and hasn’t gotten off to the best start in Italy.
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There were major improvements last time out in Imola with a fourth-place finish, but other than that, teammate Charles Leclerc has had his number, except for in sprint events.
Much of Hamilton’s struggles have been attributed to the new ‘ground effect’ era of cars, with him unable to compete for the championship nor even wins since new regulations came into effect in 2022.
Those aerodynamic rule changes have made cars both heavier and harder to handle, with constant talk of an elusive ‘window’ drivers are struggling to find where their tyres reach peak performance.
Given he’s been one of them, it’s no surprise that Hamilton has now told Sky Italia he isn’t keen on the sport’s direction ahead of a new set of rule changes in 2026.
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“I don’t think it’s going in the right direction, personally,” he said. “Maybe I’ll be surprised next year. Maybe we will arrive and the cars are really nice.
“With the direction we’re going, we’re going slower. The cars are getting heavier.
“I mean, next year, I guess they are getting lighter, but this generation of car is the heaviest car that I’ve raced.”
Much of the grid have said they haven’t noticed much difference in the simulator, with the 2026 regulations focused more on engine changes, although the FIA claim the cars will be more ‘agile’ as they’re both shorter and 30kgs lighter.
The headline news is that they will be run on 100 per cent sustainable fuels, with background talk that such developments mean cars could soon return to even eight, ten or 12 cylinder engines, providing more power and noise.
Such a switch already has Hamilton’s approval, as he misses the screaming mechanical power of his early days, and those of Schumacher at Ferrari.
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“For me, I miss the sound. When you hear a V12 Ferrari, it’s like, it’s the passion,” he said.
“Soon as we started with V6s — whilst it’s a good direction to go for the world in terms of sustainability, I think it’s been positive in that respect.
“But you can’t get away with the fact that the sound is not the same as it was when you watch Michael Schumacher’s car from 2003 come past, and it’s like, ‘ah!’”
Hamilton got a reminder of that noise twice recently when Schumacher’s son, Mick, did demo runs in his father’s old title winning Ferraris.
A clip of him also famously went viral at Abu Dhabi in 2020 when a post-practice interview was interrupted by the screaming sound of Fernando Alonso’s 2005 title winning Renault on a demo run.
“That sounds is so good man… I mean… oh,” he said. “It’s the greatest sound of a racing car ever.
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“I hate that they got rid of it!”
