Ferrari’s latest strategy disappointment has once again put Red Bull’s race operations under the spotlight, with Charles Leclerc openly identifying the rival team as a benchmark the Scuderia needs to understand. That comparison has inevitably drawn attention towards Hannah Schmitz, Red Bull’s head of race strategy, although reports suggest a move to Maranello would face one particularly significant obstacle.
Ferrari’s problems resurfaced at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, where Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both started on slick tyres on a circuit that remained wetter than anticipated. Red Bull instead placed polesitter Max Verstappen on intermediates, and the decision was immediately vindicated as the slick runners lost substantial amounts of time.
Leclerc later acknowledged that Ferrari believed it had made the right choice at the time, but pointed to Red Bull as the team that appears to make the correct strategic decisions most consistently with both cars. The Monegasque believes Ferrari needs to understand what its rival is doing better.
The full context behind the difficult opening phase can be found in ScuderiaFans’ analysis of Ferrari’s Bahrain Grand Prix strategy at Sepang, where both drivers ultimately recovered despite the costly tyre gamble.
Hannah Schmitz emerges in Ferrari strategy discussion
Charles Leclerc’s comments naturally shifted attention towards the people responsible for Red Bull’s strategic execution. Speaking on the F1-Insider YouTube channel, journalist Ralf Bach revealed that he had previously investigated whether Hannah Schmitz might be willing to move to Ferrari.
Schmitz has been with Red Bull since 2009 and joined its strategy department in 2011, the season Sebastian Vettel secured the second of his four consecutive world championships. She moved into a trackside position in 2017, during Max Verstappen’s first full campaign with Red Bull, before becoming principal strategy engineer in 2021.
That season also marked the end of Mercedes’ long run of Drivers’ Championship success as Verstappen claimed his first title, before going on to build his own sequence of championships.
Following Will Courtenay’s departure for McLaren at the end of last year, Schmitz was promoted to head of race strategy. Ferrari’s equivalent position is currently occupied by Ravin Jain.
Why a Hannah Schmitz move to Ferrari appears difficult
Ralf Bach described Hannah Schmitz as an extremely valuable figure within Red Bull’s strategy operation and suggested Ferrari would have reason to be interested if she became available. However, his information indicates that the British-based engineer has little desire to leave England.
According to Bach, family considerations are central to that position, with Schmitz having children in England. His understanding is that giving up that life simply to take a Ferrari position would not necessarily make sense for her, although he stopped short of ruling out what could happen in the future.
That creates a familiar recruitment difficulty for Ferrari. Ten of the 11 Formula 1 teams have a base in Britain, concentrating much of the championship’s engineering talent around the country’s Motorsport Valley. Ferrari, by contrast, has consistently kept its Formula 1 operation centred in Italy rather than relocating part of the team to the UK.
The structure makes attracting senior personnel from rival organisations more complicated because joining the Scuderia can require a much larger personal commitment than simply changing employers within Britain.
Ferrari has still attracted major personnel from rivals
The geographic disadvantage has not prevented Ferrari from making significant appointments. The team recently recruited former Mercedes figures Loïc Serra, now chassis technical director, and Jérôme d’Ambrosio, who serves as deputy team principal.
Those moves demonstrate that Maranello can still attract senior Formula 1 personnel despite the relocation challenge. However, Hannah Schmitz’s reported preference to remain in England could make her a particularly difficult target.
Ferrari’s wider technical recruitment remains a major part of its attempt to strengthen the organisation around Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The latest developments surrounding the car and its engineering structure can also be followed through ScuderiaFans’ Ferrari technical analysis coverage.
There are also rumours that Ferrari could recruit a leading Power Unit engineer before 2027 with experience at Mercedes and Red Bull Powertrains. Such an appointment could help address one of the mechanical weaknesses attributed to the current package, but it would not automatically solve Ferrari’s recurring problems with race execution.
Charles Leclerc wants Ferrari to understand Red Bull’s advantage
The importance of that distinction was highlighted by events at Sepang. The Monegasque was forced to pit because of damage anyway, but Lewis Hamilton remained on slick tyres and fell more than 80 seconds behind the leader across the opening nine laps. A Safety Car subsequently compressed the field and significantly improved Ferrari’s prospects.
The race therefore became another example of the team recovering from an initially damaging strategic position. For Leclerc, the lesson is not simply that Ferrari selected the wrong compound on one occasion, but that Red Bull repeatedly appears able to make better calls across both cars.
That assessment carries greater significance because strategy has remained one of Ferrari’s recurring areas of scrutiny. The team possesses its own established structure under Ravin Jain, so any attempt to improve execution does not necessarily require recruiting a high-profile rival strategist. However, the discussion around Hannah Schmitz illustrates the standard Ferrari is being compared against.
Leclerc’s broader role within the team has also attracted increasing attention, particularly as he continues to speak openly about areas in which Ferrari can improve. ScuderiaFans has examined Charles Leclerc’s influence within Ferrari and the way his feedback contributes to the wider project.
Ferrari’s challenge goes beyond one potential recruitment
Even if Hannah Schmitz were available, the underlying issue highlighted after Malaysia is broader than the identity of one strategist. Ferrari must understand why Red Bull has produced more consistently successful race decisions and determine which elements of that approach can realistically be incorporated into its own structure.
The Sepang result ultimately softened the consequences of the initial tyre choice, with the Safety Car helping Lewis Hamilton recover after his huge early deficit. But the episode once again demonstrated how quickly a strategic decision can compromise an otherwise competitive race.
For Ferrari, attracting elite personnel remains one route towards improvement, and the arrivals of Loïc Serra and Jérôme d’Ambrosio prove that the challenge of relocating to Italy is not insurmountable. Yet in Hannah Schmitz’s case, the reported preference to remain with her family in England could represent a substantial barrier.
Charles Leclerc’s message is therefore more fundamental than a call to hire one particular individual. Ferrari needs to understand why Red Bull so often gets strategic situations right and find a way to reproduce that level of execution within its own Formula 1 operation.
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