Lewis Hamilton during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Photo: Race Pictures

Hamilton's authority at Ferrari questioned

09:33, 24 Sep

Updated: 11:31, 24 Sep

bySamson Ero

Ralf Schumacher has offered advice to Lewis Hamilton after his underwhelming outing at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The former Formula 1 driver also stressed the Briton has to take some blame for his qualifying woes at the Baku Street race.

Lewis Hamilton finished P8 in Azerbaijan. Photo: Race Pictures.

I wasn't a seven-time world champion; I only won a few races, but if I wanted a certain tyre, I got it. There were no discussions at all.

- Ralf Schumacher

Schumacher, who spoke on the Boxengasse podcast, stressed the need for Hamilton to take charge of decisions surrounding his tyre choices, particularly in qualifying. The 50-year-old also urged the seven-time world champion to assert himself in situations at the Marenello-based outfit.

"He has to take the blame himself, with his experience and his power. I wasn't a seven-time world champion; I only won a few races, but if I wanted a certain tyre, I got it. There were no discussions at all."

"Ultimately, the driver is the one who has to implement it, of course, knowing best what the conditions are like out there and who can best assess himself and the car. A normal engineer would never interfere with a driver's performance."

"But that would fit the image that was often a theme with Toto Wolff: 'Drivers are there to drive. We don't involve them in decisions at all; we just tell them what to do'.”

"Lewis has to assert himself and not look for the mistake elsewhere. Then qualifying will look different – that's what you'd expect from a seven-time world champion."

Hamilton endured a forgettable qualifying outing during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The British driver failed to progress beyond the second round of qualifying at the Baku Street race. The Ferrari driver would end the weekend with an eighth-place finish, which was clouded in some internal team controversy.

Lewis Hamilton on his Azerbaijan Grand Prix outing

Lewis Hamilton earlier reflected on his outing at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver expressed his disappointment with his result on the day.

The seven-time world champion, however, concluded with a bit of optimism about his team’s overall outing from the Baku Street race.

“A bit disappointing result at the end of the day. I did go forward. My pace was generally good. I was flat out, I was definitely much better, much happier in the car.”

“It was difficult today to close up on what cars are headed very fast. Clearly, qualifying is very important, and we missed out on that. Williams, they qualified and finished there. But there are lots of positives to take from it, and definitely. It's a lot to draw from the weekend, which I'll try and take to the next one.”

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