The 2026 driver market did not need another flame, but it got one this week from Ralf Schumacher. In a wide-ranging Sky Deutschland appearance, the German pundit told Ferrari to drop Lewis Hamilton in favour of Oliver Bearman and accused Flavio Briatore of keeping Franco Colapinto at Alpine for reasons that have very little to do with lap times.
The Hamilton verdict was the headline. Now in his second season at Maranello, the seven-time world champion has spent most of 2026 trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc, and Schumacher does not believe the gap is going to close.
"Lewis Hamilton is obviously in a better position this year. But he probably won't have a chance against Leclerc in the long run," Schumacher said.
He folded Fernando Alonso into the same argument. "Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have had a wonderful time in Formula 1. But I think it's time for them to leave the cockpit at the end of the year and give young people a chance," Schumacher said. "That's why I'm saying now that I think it's time to let the younger generation have a go."
The replacement candidate, in Schumacher's view, is Bearman — the 20-year-old Haas driver who remains tied to the Ferrari Driver Academy and is widely viewed inside the paddock as Maranello's natural long-term partner for Leclerc. Hamilton's brand pull and contract length have so far insulated him from that conversation, but Schumacher dismissed those factors as commercial rather than competitive.
"Oliver Bearman deserves the chance to sit in the Ferrari," he said. "I also believe that if he gets the chance, he can compete with Charles Leclerc. It wouldn't be easy for Leclerc."
Asked why Ferrari has not made the swap, Schumacher's answer was blunt. "They want to keep the brand of Lewis Hamilton," he said.
The second wing of the broadside landed at Alpine. Colapinto, who had a strong Miami Grand Prix and is regularly described by Briatore as one of the most exciting prospects on the grid, was reframed by Schumacher as a financially-motivated solution to a financially-stretched team.
"I truly believe that Flavio Briatore partly believes in Franco Colapinto and attributes a certain talent to him," Schumacher said. "But I think he has a few million reasons to do so."
He argued the situation makes commercial sense even if it does not make competitive sense. "In the development phase, where the team is, it doesn't necessarily matter if they finish in the last 10," Schumacher said. "Colapinto is someone who can be faster at times and slower. But he brings money that he urgently needs to get the team back on track."
Alpine's parent group has been cutting motorsport budgets for the better part of two seasons, and Schumacher framed the cost squeeze as the decisive factor in keeping the Argentine in the seat. "Renault and the investors want to contribute as little as possible, and every dollar is important," he said. "I don't mean to diminish his achievement, but that's part of the truth as to why Flavio Briatore agreed to go along with him."
Neither team is going to act on Schumacher's advice. Hamilton's contract runs into 2027, Bearman is committed to Haas, and Briatore has shown no public appetite for revisiting the Colapinto deal in mid-season. What Schumacher has done, instead, is hand the silly-season machine a fresh and unusually well-sourced set of talking points — and reminded the paddock that the German press corps still has the loudest microphone for this kind of unfiltered driver-market commentary.
