Lewis Hamilton “handling it in the wrong way” as insider questions his Ferrari approach

Ralf Schumacher has backed Frederic Vasseur, questioning Lewis Hamilton’s handling of adversity during his debut season with Ferrari.

Hamilton has endured a disappointing first 14 races at Ferrari, failing to finish inside the top three in a grand prix.

While Hamilton appeared to make steady progress, his final two races before the summer break were disappointing.

The 40-year-old failed to make it beyond Q1 (or SQ1) at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Just a week later, Hamilton was knocked out in Q2 as Charles Leclerc clinched Ferrari’s first pole position of the year.

Hamilton’s early exit led to a remarkable series of comments from him, claiming that he’s now “useless”

Speaking on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Schumacher explained why he wasn’t surprised by Hamilton’s slow start - something he predicted ahead of the season.

“Hamilton finds himself in this situation, and you could have predicted it would take time,” Schumacher said.

“Of course, there was hope - probably Ferrari thought, ‘He’s a seven-time world champion, for a reason’. Sure, that’s true, but people forget that we don’t do testing anymore.

“That’s something that surprised me, and it’s also why I was surprised by the reaction to my thoughts on Lewis Hamilton’s move. Everyone immediately went overboard, as if I were criticizing him in some way. But unfortunately, it has turned out exactly that way.

“I would have wished otherwise, because Lewis Hamilton being successful at Ferrari would have been another boost for Formula 1, especially globally and in the American market. But things have turned out differently for now.”

Schumacher agrees with Vasseur

Vasseur accused Lewis Hamilton of “exaggerating” problems.

The Frenchman said, “Such a minimal time difference can ruin your whole weekend. It can be the difference between Q2 and Q3. Lewis sometimes exaggerates the problems he sees in the car.

“The team then naturally wants to respond and everyone jumps on the problem.”

Schumacher has sided with Vasseur, stating that Hamilton’s reactions would be “too much” if he were Ferrari boss.

“I agree with what Fred Vasseur said, that Hamilton is handling it the wrong way,” Hamilton added.

“When you behave like he did -remember at the start of the year, there was already some mishandling - then rumors come up that he might retire, and he says, ‘I’m not retiring; now it really starts’.

“And three races later, he’s back in the same situation. Honestly, as a team boss, that would be too much for me.”