Ferrari leaves the Barcelona Grand Prix with a very different internal picture compared to the start of the season. Lewis Hamilton has claimed his first victory in red, Charles Leclerc is going through the most delicate moment since becoming the technical and emotional face of Maranello, while in the background of the 2026 Formula 1 season the influence of Kimi Antonelli continues to grow. The Italian Mercedes driver is leading the World Championship and has already become a reference point for the new generation.
Lewis Hamilton’s turnaround, his change of approach regarding the Ferrari simulator, Charles Leclerc’s decision to follow his teammate on the brake front by switching to Carbon Industrie discs and pads, the atmosphere inside the garage and a possible shift in hierarchy between the drivers have become the main talking points of the moment. For this reason, Fanpage.it interviewed Francesco Cigarini, a former mechanic at the Prancing Horse team, to analyze the situation not from the point of view of a driver or an engineer, but from the perspective of someone who spent years inside the Maranello garage.
The technician from Brescia worked for more than twenty years with Scuderia Ferrari, experiencing the winning era of Michael Schumacher, the years of Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, and the more recent phase with Charles Leclerc. Today he talks about motorsport and remains active in the automotive and mechatronics world, bringing with him a rare perspective: that of someone who understands how much trust, leadership, human relationships and internal perception can affect a driver’s performance.
In his interview with Fanpage.it, Francesco Cigarini explains why Lewis Hamilton’s trajectory reminds him, “in terms of dynamics,” of Michael Schumacher’s, why Ferrari must trust him “because he knows how to win,” why Charles Leclerc now needs to be protected “as Massa was in front of Alonso,” and why Kimi Antonelli, despite racing for Mercedes, represents a development that Maranello cannot ignore. What emerges is the story of someone who knows Ferrari from the inside, between hierarchy, pressure, talent and old ghosts that suddenly feel relevant again.
Hamilton won his first race with Ferrari in Barcelona after months in which he seemed to be searching for a car that felt more his own. As a former Ferrari garage man, is this Hamilton’s win or a sign that the team has started listening to him?
“It is proof that Ferrari, by listening to the signals coming from a multiple world champion, must trust him. Because he is the one who knows how to win. He has driven winning cars and he knows what sensations he needs in order to take them to the limit. He needs certainty and he needs people pushing extremely hard on development. That is what is happening: the ingredients he wanted in order to become Hamilton again are now arriving.”
Where was this change visible?
“You can also see it from the fact that Lewis never really digested ground-effect cars: they were too stiff and too tied to rear-end setup, because they could not afford to lose ride height if the floor was to work properly. Now that this regulation has passed, he is becoming Lewis again: he has confidence in himself and can adjust the car in a way that is closer to his driving style.”
How difficult is it to arrive at Ferrari, a team with established systems and habits, and ask to change methods, components and practices?
“First of all, you have to convince people. You have to make them believe in you. That could not happen last year, because the first feedback is always the stopwatch. If you don’t deliver results, the first thing people question is the driver. Instead, he was like water dripping on stone: he insisted on aligning the team with what he wanted. Clearly, he was helped by Vasseur and by the people who believe in him.”
So is this also an internal political victory for Hamilton?
“It is Lewis’ achievement, but he was helped. The much-criticized Fred Vasseur may have worked very hard for Lewis in this case, made an excellent choice and moved people’s minds. It is something great champions know how to do. Beyond the driver, the instruction to follow this method must come from the team principal: he is the one who has to push the people around him to do it.”
But that brings us to the other side of the coin: Leclerc. With a long contract and his role as Ferrari’s symbolic figure, he now finds himself chasing a path opened by Hamilton. How much can this shift in hierarchy weigh on him?
“It weighs on Leclerc because this is a new challenge, one he has probably never faced before. Since he has been in Formula 1, and even in the junior categories, he has always shown that he was faster than his teammate. It was a challenge he always managed to win: he could impose his speed and put his teammates in difficulty. In this case, a Lewis Hamilton in this kind of form, capable of adjusting the car and tailoring it around himself, creates problems for Charles.”
Why does it put him in so much difficulty?
“Because one of Charles’ characteristics is that he throws his heart over the obstacle. He goes into overdriving, tries to carry more speed into the corner to set the lap time, and that is where he exposes himself to mistakes. Leclerc is a driver who exposes himself through his driving style. When he sees Hamilton being quick, he exposes himself even more. And the more you expose yourself, the more you go beyond the limit.”
Leclerc has decided to follow Hamilton on the brakes as well, switching to Carbon Industrie discs and pads. Is that a sign he has found a solution, or that he has lost certainty?
“It may be that he is a little confused. What happened in Monte Carlo changed his mind about his certainties, because the behaviour of the brakes was not what he wanted. He struggled and crashed. Clearly, he had chosen those brakes months earlier: when Lewis made this decision, that brake package will also have been offered to Charles, he will have tried it and he will have preferred to stay with Brembo. Nobody forced him to stay with Brembo.”
But now he has changed direction.
“Now he has seen, and probably been shown, that the characteristics of the Carbon Industrie brakes can help him, or at least do not create the problem he had in Monte Carlo. Now he has to adapt to the characteristics of new discs and pads. Be careful: the system is Brembo, while the discs and pads are Carbon Industrie. It is clear that he is following Hamilton’s line. And that can only strengthen what Lewis is doing and put the sceptre in his hands.”
Inside the garage, even without it being said officially, is this situation interpreted as a change in hierarchy between the drivers?
“Yes, it can be read that way. But we are dealing with professionals, so the team working with Charles will have to make the effort to keep him motivated, focused and make him feel that they still believe in him. Charles is not lost; he is readapting and trying to find himself in light of the fact that Lewis has found himself again. The duty of those working with him is to go into more detail and try to make him as comfortable as possible. He must feel that the team is tailored around him.”
Have you already experienced a similar situation at Ferrari?
“It is a bit like what happened with Felipe Massa during Alonso’s time. With the team, with Smedley and with everyone, we understood that we had to make Felipe feel welcomed, wanted and supported. Because when you are facing a giant like Fernando, such a steamroller, the other driver suffers. These great champions, like Max, Sebastian, Michael, Fernando and Lewis, also work to get inside their teammate’s head. It is a subtle game, but that is how it is. They have to dominate and, in order to dominate, first of all they have to make their teammate understand who is number one. This is a great exercise for Charles: he has to find a way out of it, and the team must help him.”
You saw Schumacher, Raikkonen, Alonso, Vettel, Leclerc and Sainz at Ferrari. Do you see something different in Hamilton compared to the champions who arrived at Maranello and were in some way “burned” by Ferrari?
“Hamilton, in terms of dynamics, reminds me a little of Michael. The champion has to make it clear that he is a champion and has to make clear what he wants. Obviously, a lot depends on the people around the champion: they must be stimulated, they must take in what he says and put it into practice. That is the difference.”
Did that not always happen in the past?
“In some cases in the past, I did not see that. The champion is a champion, but within the team, both at the track and in Maranello, people have to be warriors and at the service of that champion. They have to believe in it strongly. I see encouraging signs in the Ferrari project, because unlike in other years, the team has made important choices, choices nobody else made. That is excellent, because when you make choices outside the usual project and think about things others have not considered, it means you have dynamism and you are unlocking ideas. If, instead, you build a car purely as a child of the regulations and then look at others in order to copy them, you are already behind.”
Is there something in Hamilton’s attitude that specifically reminds you of Schumacher?
“The characteristics of great champions: someone who carries the whole team with him, creates empathy, involves the people in the team and pushes them to do more, to have ideas, to unlock themselves. That is typical of great champions.”
You were already saying last year that Ferrari should follow Hamilton, even when things were going badly. Why?
“Because if you had let Hamilton go last year and said, ‘Poor guy, he is finished,’ you would have remained stuck in your ideas. Instead, Lewis’ insistence, his desire to show that he was not finished, and also the regulatory change that reshuffled the cards, have led to a Ferrari that is putting innovative ideas on track. These are clear signs of a project that can deliver great satisfaction.”
Hamilton also decided for a period not to use the Ferrari simulator anymore and to trust his instincts more. Is that something great champions do?
“When they said he was no longer using the simulator and wanted to sort out the car without following the simulator’s indications, I said to some people: ‘This is the best upgrade package Ferrari could have brought.’ Lewis taking control of the car and convincing his team to say: ‘Now let’s forget what the simulator says.’ Because sometimes, from an engineering point of view, you remain stuck on the data, while the driver’s sensations are fundamental.”
So has Hamilton finished with the simulator?
“No, I think Lewis is probably still using the simulator now, but he is using it with the setups and elements he chose on track. He ignored the pre-digested simulator work that operates on setups from which you move very little, because all the data tells you that you have to stay within that window. Now, instead, he has prepared the menu the way he likes it.”
In practice, did he first fix the car on track and then bring that direction back to the simulator?
“Exactly. He took a break, set up the car in the way he felt it was working based on his sensations, showed that the setup works on track, and now he will work on the simulator with what he found on track.”
Hamilton’s ability to set up the car and make it perform better seems clear. Is this, instead, the limitation Leclerc needs to work on?
“Charles has a great gift that, in some cases, can become a limitation. He can push any car he is given to the maximum because he has extraordinary control. And that, paradoxically, is his limit. Perhaps also because he has never driven a Formula 1 car that allowed him to win a World Championship, so he has never fully understood how to build a car and what sensations it must give in order to fight for the title.”
In what sense?
“Charles grew up with a driving style based on a very free rear end, and he has great control. When Sebastian tried to move toward Charles’ setups, he looked foolish, because he could no longer feel the rear and spun. In fact, he was mocked for that. But Charles could take the car and bring it to the limit with his style. Vettel, who won World Championships, as well as Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, want a very solid rear end: they need to feel it, and it has to give them great confidence.”
So could Leclerc’s speed have pushed Ferrari down a risky path?
“He adapts to the car, while the others knew how to indicate what was needed to win. If a car does not give confidence to world champions and they spin, that should be a warning sign. But at that moment Charles was faster than the world champions, so the stopwatch made Ferrari decide that this was the path to follow. Lewis has broken this vicious circle.”
Have you ever seen, inside the Ferrari garage, a driver who had been the absolute reference point lose centrality in the project?
“Vettel. When Charles arrived, Sebastian was already on a slightly downward trajectory, because he no longer felt as supported as he had in 2015 or 2016. Then Charles arrived, and he was clearly faster because of his particular qualities. At that point, Sebastian also lost his role as Ferrari’s reference point. For a driver, I think that is a psychological blow. Charles ‘dug the grave a little’ for Sebastian.”
Let’s move on to Kimi Antonelli. He is Italian, he leads the World Championship and he is Formula 1’s enfant prodige. As someone who lived Ferrari from the inside, is a talent like that looked at in Maranello with pride, irritation or regret?
“He should be seen as a driver who brings freshness to the World Championship and to Formula 1, because of the way he is and the results he is achieving. But it is not as if he were at Ferrari, because the pressure is different. With an Italian at Ferrari, you have to see how he reacts. Clearly, what he is doing is beautiful and it is annoying, because when you are in the Ferrari garage, seeing Vettel or Verstappen win with Red Bull is annoying. But you have to admit that you are looking at a talent. And above all, he is Italian.”
Would it have been different if Antonelli had grown directly within Ferrari?
“It would have been a more delicate operation if Ferrari had done it with Antonelli, precisely because he is Italian. But in 2018 Ferrari did not have a structure equipped to go that far, to identify talents and follow them from a very young age. Mercedes, on the other hand, is continuing to do this, because it has signed Perico and has been following him since he was very young. Now Ferrari is also moving in that direction. Clearly, if the big teams see these results, they start looking for talents at a younger age.”
Is it a good thing or a risk to take drivers at an increasingly young age?
“From one point of view it is beautiful, but from another the child or young driver no longer races only out of passion, but begins a professional path. The positive side is that he is supported and, financially, that is a huge help, because motorsport is extremely expensive. But you have to see how he reacts and how he matures over the years.”
Do you expect another generational shift soon?
“Yes. Formula 1 has to prepare itself because a wave of very young drivers is coming, a wave of Antonellis. Drivers born in this bubble, digital natives, who learn very quickly and become extremely fast on track because they are supported and because today’s technologies help talent emerge. These talents are at the door and they will push out the good drivers in the middle of their careers, the quick ones who have never shown absolute speed.”
If Antonelli were to win the World Championship with Mercedes, would that become symbolically dangerous for Ferrari? Could it divide Italian fans?
“No, I don’t think so. I think a Ferrari fan could say: ‘Okay, if Ferrari does not win, at least let an Italian win.’ I think Italians have a duty to support him, without already turning him into a legend, because he still has to grow and prove himself.”
But now Antonelli will have Hamilton against him in the title fight. What kind of test will that be for him?
“Now that the mastiff is being unleashed, someone who knows how to win World Championships, you have to be very careful. Having George Russell behind you is one thing. You are beating him, getting into his head and putting him in difficulty. But now your title opponent is someone who has won many World Championships, someone who mentally challenged Rosberg and other drivers. Antonelli will be dealing with someone much more aware. This will test him even more.”
In Barcelona, before his retirement, Antonelli had caught Russell and overtaken him. What kind of signal was that?
“If Kimi had not stopped because of that problem, he would have finished the race ahead of Russell and delivered another strong psychological blow. In a way, he did that anyway, because he recovered seven seconds when he decided to go after him. That is the point: you are fighting a fast teammate, and you are getting inside his head.”
What characteristic of Antonelli impresses you the most?
“What I like about Antonelli is that he learns very quickly. In my opinion, he did not arrive at Mercedes and in Formula 1 as the fastest driver in absolute terms, but he has this ability to learn rapidly.”
Do you have an example?
“In Canada, in the Sprint Race, he tried everything to overtake Russell, because overtaking him would have meant landing a psychological blow and showing him he was faster. There, he made mistakes. On Sunday, instead, Antonelli went on track trying to make Russell make a mistake. Not by trying to win through force, but by putting him in difficulty so that Russell would be the one to make the error. He changed tactics from one day to the next, and it paid off. That means he has a very developed racing intelligence.”
Does Antonelli remind you of any driver you worked with?
“No, because he is still forming. He is a driver who is growing, and I do not even want to think about who he might remind me of. I want to enjoy him as he is, without expecting him to behave like any specific driver. He is the sum of his experiences and of what he is doing on track. I do not want to compare him to anyone.”
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