Ralf Schumacher has questioned Lewis Hamilton’s ability to work with his engineers to craft a racecar perfect to his driving style, insisting that his brother, Michael Schumacher, was supreme in this regard.

As the sport’s only seven-time world champions, comparisons are often drawn between Hamilton and Schumacher's styles and achievements. The Brit leads the way statistically in race wins, pole positions and podiums, but his advantage is at least somewhat helped by the longer seasons that modern F1 drivers experience.

“The biggest difference is that, among many other qualities, Michael was able to work with the engineers to develop a car that was perfect for his driving style,” former Williams driver Ralf told Sport1.

“Lewis can’t do that. He’s never been able to do that if you listen carefully to what the Mercedes engineers say. Toto Wolff has stressed more than once that a driver should step on the gas and the engineers should develop.

“But he also said this because his drivers were apparently not capable of providing the right input. Michael was completely different. He always gave his confidants like Ross Brawn and Jean Todt the direction.

“For Lewis, that makes things even more difficult because Charles Leclerc is the top dog. Everyone in the team knows him. For Lewis, everything at Ferrari is new. In addition, Michael came to Ferrari as the current world champion and was much younger. Neither of these is the case for Lewis.”

Hamilton now has a unique opportunity to etch his name into the list of Ferrari world champions when he moves to Maranello this winter. The Scuderia enjoyed their most recent triumph with Kimi Raikkonen back in 2007, but the 39-year-old aims to end this drought and hit the ground running in 2025.

Despite the natural excitement from fans, Hamilton is not giving himself the pressure of emulating Schumacher’s feats. "I'm not looking at comparing myself to Michael, not looking at that,” he said in Abu Dhabi. “At the moment, that's not something that I'm thinking about."

However, the legendary German driver was at least part of the inspiration for Hamilton’s move to Ferrari. “It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions from the moment I signed the contract - telling my boss, that was terrifying,” he said.

“But it is so exciting because I remember as a kid watching Michael. Every driver watches that car, and you’re like, ‘What would it be like to sit in the red cockpit?’”