Ferrari was in dire straits when Michael Schumacher joined them in 1996. The team was going through a severe trophy drought, having won its last drivers’ championship in 1979 and constructors’ in 1983. Even after he arrived, they went trophyless for 4 long years. But the patience paid off as the dream run between 2000 and 2004 made him the most successful F1 driver of that time. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, found success at Mercedes after a short wait of just 1 year. He too had a phenomenal run with the team, however, the recent dry run has exposed some weaknesses in their relationship. A former Ferrari engineer has now revealed an endearing trait Schumi had that the Briton can borrow to help himself and the team during these trying times.

After the abysmal run from last year, Mercedes looked to bounce back in 2023. However, the season opener in Bahrain revealed that a lot more work was needed to be put in to make the car quicker. The frustration saw Hamilton openly criticizing the team for ignoring his feedback. That is something that, according to Rob Smedley, Schumacher never did.

In a recent interview with Sky Sports, he said, “Michael through all the difficult times. I never saw him once even privately complain about individuals or complain in a way that wasn’t creating what I call a positive conflict.”

“He had complete trust in the technical team and that trust was borne out so when he did have to ride out the troughs he was there as a motivating factor and helping the team,” he added. “Saying ‘it’s alright I trust in you, I know you’ll produce a good car’. And eventually we did produce good cars, we did produce cars which were worthy of winning world championships.”

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Team boss Toto Wolff is growing increasingly impatient as well. He recently admitted that he wouldn’t mind it if making the car look like Red Bull’s is what will get them in front.

George Russell fires a warning to rivals giving an update on changes for Mercedes

To have a chance at winning races and championships once again, Mercedes will have to make some changes to the car and they’ll have to make them quick. Russell recently emphasized the team’s unwavering commitment to winning as well. But he ruled out the possibility of making changes to the car immediately.

Speaking at the pre-race press conference in Melbourne, he said, “we’re here to win, we’re here to fight for victories, for the championship. Clearly, we’re not in a position to do that at the moment but big changes are incoming. There’s nothing that you’ll see on the car this weekend because naturally, you can’t get things brought that quickly to the car. But I think in the due course, you’ll see some big changes and hopefully, the lap times represent that.”

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Lewis Hamilton has remained loyal to Mercedes despite what happened last year. However, he is still hungry to win the record 8th world championship and isn’t getting any younger. Will he sign an extension before his contract with the team ends at the end of the current season?