Ferrari insider claims Lewis Hamilton could write ‘Michael story’

Former Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley remains in contact with his former colleagues, and said that “they’re all over the moon” with Lewis Hamilton.

The seven-time world champion won his first Grand Prix with Ferrari in Barcelona, a record-extending 106th career triumph. Smedley said that Hamilton is feeling the love at Ferrari, and this will only snowball if he can clear the path to title glory. Hamilton could be on the verge of writing a new Michael Schumacher story, says Smedley.

Smedley: Lewis Hamilton could write ‘Michael story’

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While Hamilton has urged caution over his and Ferrari’s rise, there is no doubt that this partnership is gathering momentum.

Hamilton followed back-to-back P2s with victory in Barcelona, opening his Ferrari account and rising to second in the Drivers’ Championship.

“He puts so much effort in,” Smedley said of Hamilton on the High Performance Racing podcast.

Smedley was a part of Ferrari between 2004-13.

“People always misunderstand Lewis because of the shell that he’s created around himself of his public persona,” Smedley continued.

“But this is a guy that, all the guys, funnily enough, Max [Verstappen], Lewis, Michael [Schumacher], Sebastian [Vettel], all of those guys who are greats, they work harder and put more of themselves into it to get to the positions that they’re in.

“And when you put yourself into anything, especially winning a grand prix, when you put all of yourself into it and you keep failing, but you keep coming back, and you keep trying, then eventually when it happens, it’s just like an outpouring of emotions.”

Smedley revealed that he is “on lots of chat groups with all of my old colleagues, and they’re all over the moon with Lewis.”

Smedley went as far as to suggest that Hamilton could become Ferrari’s modern-day Michael Schumacher.

In what was a golden era for Ferrari, Schumacher won five consecutive Drivers’ titles at the start of the 2000s.

Smedley witnessed Schumacher’s final title win in 2004, and race engineered Schumacher’s 2006 teammate Felipe Massa.

Asked what his former colleagues are saying about Hamilton in these group chats, Smedley said: “They just love him.

“We talked about this [on the podcast], this could be a Michael story.

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“Lewis, if he can get on top of the car and he can lift the team, and he can start winning races, and he can guide them towards world championships, they will absolutely love him.”

Hamilton heads into this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix 41 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

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