Former Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams believes that only a select few drivers in Formula 1 history have the personality type to transform a team.
Speaking on the High Performance Racing podcast, Williams reflected on Lewis Hamilton’s second season at Ferrari. With the seven-time champion recently securing a landmark 106th career victory, his first for the Maranello outfit, comparisons have naturally been drawn to Michael Schumacher’s legendary time at the Scuderia between 1996 and 2006.
When asked about drivers embedding themselves in teams and being a large part of a transformation, Williams explained: “I don’t know if I could say that any of my drivers necessarily did that. And that’s not being or trying to be disparaging to the ones that we had, but we just weren’t that kind of team.
“We didn’t have those kinds of drivers coming in that made such a big impact. But obviously, I witnessed it in the sport. I mean, that’s exactly what Michael did at Ferrari, and it’s an extraordinary thing. But a team’s got to be in a particular place, and a driver has to be of a particular personality for that scenario to happen. And we don’t see it very often.
“You get Max Verstappen at Red Bull. It’s happened there. We talked about, obviously, Michael at Ferrari, and now probably Lewis at Ferrari. But again, that takes an awful lot of presence, communication, and effort.
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
“I heard Lewis talking in Italian and thanking people. I love his little Italian accent. So cute. Like, really sweet. I don’t know if I can call Lewis Hamilton cute, but I’m going to. How often is he there? Is he starting to spend more time there? I don’t know. Because obviously, at the start of the ’25 campaign, everyone was like, ‘Oh, is it over for Lewis?’
“But anyone who’s been in the sport for a long time knows how long it takes for a driver, particularly one who’s come from a team that he’s been with for a long time and has had the success that Lewis had at Mercedes.
“It’s not going to be easy going into a new team. It is going to take an awful lot of time. And that all takes a long time to gel. And you can’t forget either about the cultural differences that exist between Mercedes and Ferrari, and pretty much every other team on the grid.”
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