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Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, the two seven-time world champions, have seen their careers and legacies intertwine with each other for a long time. Both are considered to be among the best talents to have ever raced in F1 and as drivers who redefined their era in terms of popularity.
In terms of success, they sit at the top of the mountain, and the way they took winning in their stride in F1 was unprecedented.
There is now another strand of similarity that is going to attach these two and it is the stint at Ferrari.
When Schumacher decided to join the team, it was a seismic shift in F1; when Hamilton announced the same earlier this season, it shocked the world. In that regard, how do the moves made by the two of them compare, especially since they are done at very different stages of their careers? Let's take a look.
Ferrari's title drought
This one seems quite similar because, in the case of Michael Schumacher, Ferrari had not won a title since Jody Scheckter did so in 1979. Since then, the team had come close to winning a title multiple times but did not achieve it in more than a decade.
In a similar manner, Ferrari last won a title in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen. Since then, the team has come close, but has not clinched the championship. This is the title drought that Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to end when he joins the team.
Stage of Michael Schumacher's and Lewis Hamilton's careers
This is a major point of difference. Michael Schumacher joined Ferrari at the peak of his powers as the reigning two-time world champion and some distance away from the final stages of his career.
Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, is in the last legs of his career. He is already a seven-time world champion and has already won more races than anyone else, among other accomplishments.
Ferrari's current form
In terms of Ferrari's form when Michael Schumacher joined, the team had gone through a pretty disappointing year in 1995. It didn't win a single race and finished third in the championship.
At the time, there were serious question marks raised about the design team and its capability. This was precisely why when Schumacher moved, the entire team went through a revamp of sorts, and many new faces arrived on the scene.
Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, is joining a team that is on the ascendance and has quite a few brilliant minds onboard already. The results are very impressive, as Ferrari is currently second in the championship with a win under its belt. With the Prancing Horses reportedly trying to bring in Adrian Newey as well, the Italian squad is looking at the formation of a super team by 2025.
Expected status in the team
Arguably one of the biggest differences between Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher is the status the two signed up for when they agreed to join Ferrari.
For Michael Schumacher, the conditions were crystal clear. He was going to be the primary and sole focus of the team. Every action by every mechanic, including the second driver, was aimed towards making him a world champion.
Lewis Hamilton's challenge is a bit different here because he is arguably going into the lion's den with Charles Leclerc already entrenched within the team.
Ferrari may not have Hamilton anointed as the number one driver within the team. They will likely put in equal effort to make Leclerc, who could prove to be his biggest challenge on the grid, win.
Boldness of the move
The boldness of the move made by Lewis Hamilton cannot be undermined. He was in a comfortable position at Mercedes, where he was the centre of attention. From that role, he's moving to a team where he may have to fight to be the lead driver, which is certainly a challenge.
At the same time, in terms of his career, Hamilton doesn't have much to lose given his career and accomplishments. Moving to Ferrari is merely in a bid to enhance his legacy, but even if he doesn't win, his seven titles and splendid record will remain. To add to this, Mercedes appears to be a team on the decline, and a move away makes a lot of sense.
Michael Schumacher, on the other hand, took a legacy-defining decision when he left Benetton for Ferrari in 1996. He was the reigning world champion at the time and could have just stayed at the team and continued to win titles. Yet, he took the gamble to put his career success on hold and build a team that had not won for more than a decade.
Schumacher's move was thus from a top team to one that was underperforming, and a lot of work needed to be done to make that team great. To his credit, he played his role to perfection.
