Luigi Mazzola reflects on similarities between Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher amid Ferrari move. Luigi Mazzola spoke about what the arrival of Lewis Hamilton could bring to Ferrari.

In a recent interview, engineer Luigi Mazzola spoke about what the arrivals of Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Newey could bring to Ferrari and more.

In the first part of the interview, which you can find here, the historic Ferrari Formula 1 engineer discussed the updates that Ferrari will introduce on the SF-24 car at the Imola circuit and the issue of bringing the tires up to temperature. In this second and final part, Luigi Mazzola discussed the arrival of Lewis Hamilton at Scuderia Ferrari, the potential contribution of Adrian Newey, Mercedes’ problems, and the 2026 Formula 1 regulations.

Next year Lewis Hamilton will join Ferrari. Having worked with a great driver like Michael Schumacher, what can a driver like him bring to the team?
“I also worked with Prost and it was the same situation. When Prost arrived, the first thing he told me was that we needed to change the mentality, or at least grow in terms of mentality. Mentality means everyone having this concept of challenge, this desire to win, this desire to improve, this desire to excel.”

“So it means a lot of effort, a lot of teamwork. An environment where there are no blames or accusations, but proactivity and positivity at all levels. All to try to bring the car to competitive levels.”

Do you see any similarities between Hamilton and Schumacher?
“When Michael arrived in ’96, he realized the situation at Ferrari and did everything so that Ross would come. And Ross Brawn arrived. Then Ross Brawn saw the Ferrari situation and therefore understood that a position was not covered, which was Rory Byrne. So, he brought Rory Byrne. He didn’t change anyone else. It’s not that he changed the people. Maybe he realized that the people were not bad.”

“It’s then about working together, having covered all the various sectors, to work as a team. So another concept that Ross brought was precisely a concept of team play, of team spirit. We immediately began to be competitive. Michael arrived in ’96 and won three races but by ’97 we could already win the World Championship. In ’98 and ’99 as well. We won the constructors. So it didn’t take long.”

“Now Hamilton arrives at about 40 years old, so the discourse is right seen in this light, no? So, that of bringing a mentality or going to understand what is actually missing. Improve the team to make it competitive. This could be a nice role for Hamilton.”

So, does Hamilton find a different Ferrari than Schumacher did?
“It’s clear that [Hamilton] doesn’t have many years ahead. So it’s not like Michael who could establish a situation. But it’s also true that Michael arrived at a Ferrari that wasn’t exactly winning. This year it’s a bit more positive compared to what the ’96 Ferrari was. I expect him to be able to identify the various areas and help the team to try to improve.”

“If he were to arrive and find himself with a non-competitive car, I might fear that he could sit back a bit. After all, I repeat, his job is quite short-term. So there is that risk. Here, let’s also add this condition: if the car is competitive, in my opinion, he remains a driver who still has hunger. He’s missing the eighth title, he could surpass Michael, do it with Ferrari. If the car is not competitive, it could be an on-off situation. As much on as much off.”

There was talk that Hamilton could bring some engineers to Ferrari, Adrian Newey among them. Can one man really change the course of a team, or is a collective effort more necessary?
“No. Even if Newey were to arrive, with all due respect and admiration for Adrian, I would say he couldn’t do it alone. He has to find a situation that he needs to understand. He needs to figure out whom to trust. He needs to understand the people who can help him.”

“F1 is not a one-man show but a team, it’s many departments. Power unit, electronics, management, aerodynamics, suspension, setups. Then there’s the whole production part. One person can’t do it alone. Even if he is a phenomenon, even if he has shown to have a lot of experience and competence. They would need to bring him in with trusted people in key positions, then we could talk about it. But just Adrian Newey arriving alone… Yes, ok, he might provide some ideas or something, but then you need a team around that can support him.”

“It’s a team game. So, it’s always positive if he comes, should he come. But don’t expect him to be Harry Potter with a magic wand.”

Let’s talk about Mercedes. In these three years, they are having more of a devolution than an evolution. How do you see this technical difficulty? Have they not understood the regulations yet, or is there something else, in your opinion?

“In my opinion, not understanding the regulations after three years means being stubborn [laughs]. I mean, the first year is one thing, but after three years you can’t think that you haven’t understood them. Clearly, they have taken a certain and determined direction and can’t get out of it.”

“They started with a very different car concept three years ago. Then they completely overhauled it during the second year, and now they are different. But in the end, it depends on what numbers you want from the wind tunnel. What type of car you want. So where you go looking for the load, at what front and rear height you seek the load and look for efficiency.”

“The fact itself that many times they are more or less okay in certain situations and then, as the conditions change, they are no longer okay makes me think that they are very critical in terms of load consistency through the changes and variabilities of heights during transitions. It’s clear that there are variabilities there that they do not have under control.”

“When a driver says ‘it’s difficult, the car is unpredictable,’ it’s clear that all these transitions play the most important part. I get the impression that they can’t manage these transitions during entry, exit, and mid-corner. I get this impression because I can’t explain why for three years you can’t somewhat square away the situation. But let’s see what they do during the year.”

Toto Wolff said that their pressure sensors show they have 70 more downforce points than last year, but then this isn’t seen in the lap time. Is such a thing possible?
“No, no, no. Wolff is dreaming of 70 points. 70 points is a lot. I mean, 10 points of efficiency are about three tenths. So, if you have 70 points, you’re talking about a completely different level of car. I don’t know what he means by points of aerodynamic load. If it means the usual load points, as everyone knows, I get the impression that the track tells him something totally different from the wind tunnel. So it would mean having problems with wind tunnel calibration, of this kind. But if they are at those levels… no, I don’t think so. So this leaves me a bit perplexed.”

Could it be due to the mechanical grip of the car?
“Aerodynamics behave according to the heights of the car, so it’s clear that the suspensions play an important role. Clearly, the stiffness of the tires plays a role too, but also the stiffness of the suspensions or at least the variability of stiffness increases in the suspensions as the heights change.”

“This can certainly play a role, but it’s always a balance between the two. So anti-dive, anti-squat, are all situations that clearly also affect the aerodynamic characteristics and performance. It’s all a set of balances that evidently they can’t manage. Because that’s the only thing I can think of. They don’t have control of these things.”

With such a major change in regulations on the horizon, what should a technically struggling team like Mercedes do? Bet everything on 2026? Especially in an era of budget caps.
“No, absolutely not. You need to improve otherwise you’ll carry problems into 2026. You have to understand why the car doesn’t perform. You can’t stop. You can’t say, ‘let’s all stop and go to 2026.’ No, no, absolutely not. It makes no sense. It means not competing. It means being out of everything that is competition. What are you going to do on the track? It wouldn’t make any sense at all.”

Staying on the topic of 2026. We’ve heard about some problems in the simulations with active aerodynamics. How do you see this issue?
“For me, active aerodynamics is an abomination. It’s anti-spectacle. This is because active aerodynamics makes performance even more dependent on the machine. The relationship between the car and the driver is already unbalanced, 70-30 or 80-20. If we put a car with active aerodynamics into the mix, it’s over. The car counts overwhelmingly. If a team managed to do something a bit better than the others in aerodynamics, which is the area that counts most of all in a Formula 1 car, I say it’s a killer, right? Or at least it opens up a situation where there could be a problem at the level of global competitiveness among the various teams.”

“We need to remove aerodynamics, not add it. We need to pull back on aerodynamics because otherwise, the driver counts only until noon. There’s nothing to be done. I am strongly against this, maybe the teams aren’t.”
What do you think can be done for these cars?

“I start with a concept: it’s F1 that must win, not the individual team. Look at what’s happening now. Four races this year, three Red Bull one-twos. Red Bull has a problem in Australia, and then there’s a Ferrari one-two where there’s a team order to maintain positions. Then there’s McLaren in 3rd-4th place, where it’s said to maintain positions.”

“Where are the duels? Where are those activities that excite fans, viewers, the audience? All of this would be exacerbated if we were to further exacerbate aerodynamics. Why? Because it would mean that some team that has hit something right flies, goes away.”

“Then there’s the engine. They have the target of making 50% of thermal power and 50% of electric power. This is a nice exercise, you know. You could find yourself in a situation where you have 1000 horsepower or you have 500. That is, you don’t have any more battery. And then the ERS is removed. Removing the ERS means you don’t have the possibility to charge the batteries through the thermal engine. So I think somehow the batteries will have to increase. They will increase the possibility of recharging.”

“However, during a GP, there could be a situation where you could go into management mode. And in Formula 1, I want everything except going into management mode. So I hope that somehow things are done in a way that maintains competitiveness from the first to the last lap. I hope it doesn’t become a matter of having to manage tires and charge like they do in Formula E. And then maybe there’s a team that goes faster than everyone else because they’ve got active aerodynamics.”

Could it be something like Williams’ active suspension?
“We had active ones in ’92-’93, and there the Williams was flying. It killed the championship. They took them off then because the others couldn’t, due to reliability and calibration issues, get them to work. So the precedent isn’t the best. In that case, they were active suspensions. In this case, if they make active aerodynamics, it means front wing, rear wing, but not suspensions. So much simpler from that point of view.”

“I don’t know what they’ll come up with in terms of regulations, but let me give you another example. When during the 2000s we [Ferrari] had active brake balance, that was a significant step. When we put it in the car, it completely changed everything. We gained a lot of lap time. You gave a variability of the car’s behavior exactly as you wanted and as the driver wanted to be fast.”

“If you start playing with the front and rear wing, guys, there too I can do whatever I want. I can vary the flap as I like. Between entry and exit. Between the front and rear. I don’t know in detail what they’ll do, but I highlight everything that can actually be used. I would remove this aerodynamics. My dream is to see 1000 horsepower in a true, pure car. With a car that has 100 or 150 fewer load points than those of now. And then you, the driver, go drive this car. If you can handle it, you’re good.”

Source: f1ingenerale