Ralf Schumacher is sure: “Team order Ferrari to Hamilton? They are prohibited by contract”

Red show In the first three GPs of this season, much of the show on the track was provided by the Ferraris: not fighting for victory – which has always been the prerogative of Mercedes – but almost always fighting among themselves for a place on the podium. In Australia and Japan the challenge was won by Charles Leclerc, while in China Lewis Hamilton prevailed, thus finally obtaining his first top-3 finish in a GP as a Ferrari driver. Many commentators, experts, but also simple fans appreciated the choice of team principal Fred Vasseur to leave the battle open between the two Prancing Horse drivers, unlike what happened in past eras in which the outcome of internal battles in the red garage was almost always predetermined by the wall. But could the team leaders actually give orders to the two drivers if they wanted? Not according to Ralf Schumacher. Armored contract The former German driver, now a popular television commentator for Sky Germany, is in fact convinced that Lewis Hamilton above all has a sort of team order ban in his contract which would make the role of team principal Vasseur almost useless in situations like those that occurred in the first three races of the year. In a speech on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Ralf Schumacher expressed his thoughts very clearly, which are bound to create great discussions: “I’m actually of the opinion – although obviously I’ll get a lot of criticism for this again, but I don’t care – that although Lewis Hamilton is clearly back in the game this year, which I’m very happy about, he will also have contracts that allow him to do exactly that,” Schumacher said. “I imagine that even if Fred wanted to, he couldn’t say anything, because I think Lewis Hamilton can decide for himself what he has to do. He will enjoy a certain ‘number one’ status. I can almost imagine that. That’s why Ferrari has no chance. He will decide for himself. But obviously this creates turmoil in the team. It stirs things up a bit. It should be handled a little differently but I think it depends on the contractual situation and I also think – and this is actually the main problem – that it doesn’t should underestimate this kind of thing,” commented Ralf.