Lewis Hamilton 'absolute no-go' means Ferrari peace talks must happen says Schumacher

Former F1 star Ralf Schumacher has given his take on that potentially fractious situation which pits Lewis Hamilton against Charles Leclerc at Ferrari.

The team and its drivers have publicly played down Lewis Hamilton's clear frustration at the decision not to have release him to make the best of his fresher tyres at the Dutch Grand Prix, a decision the Brit repeatedly insisted cost him a place on the podium.

Hamilton's frustrations in his first year at the team were far more often existential rather than being directed at the other side of the garage, but Schumacher warned on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast that the seven-time champion and his team-mate need to work to get on the same page.

Barring a better than expected performance boost from the team's upcoming power unit upgrade from Monza onward, Ferrari will need things to line up absolutely perfectly to break a long streak without a drivers' or constructors' title, with the former Williams man warning that Hamilton and Leclerc 'both definitely need to get into a two-person rowing boat and learn to paddle in the same direction'.

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Schumacher: Hamilton is very politically astute

"Two distinct personalities clashed, and I can imagine that their interactions are anything but harmonious. You can see that in their radio communication," he said, adding: "I find that suboptimal; I think it needs to be resolved internally."

He continued: "It goes both ways. Lewis Hamilton, as we know, is very politically astute, he'll use the radio and try his luck. Conversely... Leclerc has also asked a few times, but he didn't want to at the time.

They both need to sit down and talk, and the boss needs to put his foot down. Ultimately, it's about the brand, not the drivers. It's about the team."

Trouble brewing at Maranello?

Schumacher's co-host Peter Hardenacke went on to claim that 'people say Hamilton is the first Ferrari driver where the Italians feel the driver is more important than the brand', something the ex-Jordan, Williams and Toyota racer said is 'perhaps also due to his communication style'.

In terms of publicly criticising the team, as Hamilton did in the immediate aftermath of the Dutch Grand Prix, Schumacher added: "Something like that would have been unthinkable back then, it was an absolute no-go, regardless of the direction of the criticism."

It's hard to know how much of the 'unharmonious' feeling between the two Ferrari drivers is real and how much is simply being projected, but in either case expect a united showing in front of the team's beloved Tifosi at Monza next weekend.

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