Lewis Hamilton Urged to “Embed” Himself in Italy to Carry Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari Legacy Ahead

Ferrari is a name synonymous with racing and winning. The Red Team has been in F1 since the inception of F1 racing. However, over the last decade and a half, comparatively newer teams like Red Bull and Mercedes have been dominating the sport. 2007 was the year when Ferrari last won a championship with Kimi Raikkonen. And with Lewis Hamilton now moving to Ferrari, he’s being urged to embed himself in Italy to carry Michael Schumacher’s legacy.

Michael Schumacher’s era at Ferrari was the last dominant era for the Scuderia. The German joined Ferrari in the late 90s and helped build the team ground up with Jean Todt and Ross Brawn. Lewis Hamilton will be racing for Ferrari in 2025 with hopes of securing his 8th Championship and bringing the Scuderia back to winning ways. And to do that, he’s been advised to follow Michael Schumacher’s path. 

Most of the F1 teams are based in Britain and follow their culture. However, things are different in Italy. Frederic Vasseur himself suggested how it is not the same for an engineer to move from Red Bull to Ferrari as it is moving to a Britain-based team like Aston Martin or Mercedes. One has to get used to the culture in Italy and really make themselves at home. The same was advised to Lewis Hamilton.

During the Sky Sports Podcast, Martin Brundle said, “How could this go for Lewis? He could either do a Michael Schumacher and turn them into champions again or he could do a Fernando Alonso or a Sebastian Vettel where it is kind of a near miss but pretty good on occasions. Look at what Schumacher did. Schumacher had his gym where he stayed overnight where he was always embedded in Fiorano, in the factory, as Leclerc and Sainz have done”

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He added, “If Lewis wants to get a fast start in what is a completely different team to the British-based teams, I think he’ll have to embed himself.” Earlier last year, Frederic Vasseur elaborated on the challenges of recruiting for Ferrari. Let’s see what he said. 

“You want to come to Italy, it’s a different approach”: Frederic Vasseur of Ferrari’s recruitment challenges

Aston Martin made a surprising start to the 2023 season with the AMR23. A lot of the credit does go to the aggressive poaching done by Lawrence Stroll and Co. for Ferrari, however, the case isn’t the same. The people moving to Italy have to get used to the Italian living and culture. The same was detailed by Vasseur last year.

Frederic Vasseur when asked why moving to Ferrari is difficult for engineers, said, “It’s not the same situation – you can move from Red Bull to Mercedes, keep the same hours, keep children in the same school, and from the Friday to the Monday you can change and everything is perfect. You want to come to Italy, it’s a different approach. You have to change the family environment and so on.”

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Do you think Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move will turn out to be a success?