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Jock Clear, Ferrari's senior performance engineer, compares Lewis Hamilton to Michael Schumacher, defending Hamilton against claims of arrogance. Clear emphasizes Hamilton's team-oriented personality, similar to Schumacher's approach.
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Jock Clear has worked with most of the great ones. He engineered Jacques Villeneuve to a world title at Williams, spent years inside Mercedes during the Hamilton-Rosberg era, and is now the senior performance engineer at Ferrari, where he sits across the garage from both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Now, heās opened an interview by saying it hurts him to read what people write about Hamilton online as he compares the Briton to the legendary Michael Schumacher.
Speaking to AutoRacer, Clear pushed back on the idea that the seven-time champion is somehow aloof, ego-driven, or coasting on past wins with Mercedes and McLaren.
āIt hurts to read comments from those who think Lewis is arrogant or not a team player, as if everything was about him,ā he said. āThat couldnāt be further from the truth.ā
He went further, comparing Hamiltonās personality to that of Schumacher: āHe knew how to treat people,ā he said of the German. āYou wanted to work for him, you wanted him to win, you wanted to be on his side.ā
That can decide a championship.
The Schumacher era at Maranello was built on this, a driver who made the mechanics, the engineers, and the strategists feel like the result was theirs as much as his. Jean Todt has said as much for twenty years. Itās the thing Fernando Alonso never quite replicated at Ferrari, and the thing Sebastian Vettel openly admitted he struggled with after Schumacher-shaped expectations followed him into the same garage.
Jock Clear defended Hamilton, stating he is not arrogant or aloof, but rather a team player who knows how to treat people well.
Clear compares Hamilton to Schumacher by highlighting their similar personalities, noting that both drivers inspire their teams and create a desire to support them.
A driver's personality, like Hamilton's and Schumacher's, can significantly influence team dynamics and motivation, potentially affecting championship outcomes.
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Clear was just as⦠clear⦠about Charles Leclerc.
āHe is a very spontaneous driver, with a great feeling for the car. At the moment, he is the only one who, in my opinion, can equal Max Verstappen in terms of pace,ā he said.
āWhat he has to keep working on is taking the team by the hand towards the championship. Getting in the car and driving at the maximum on track comes naturally to him. Everything else is what he is learning.
āI think he is learning very well. I believe he will be the driver who takes Ferrari to the next level. And the next level has to be the championship.ā
āIt doesnāt matter how much money you earn: you still remain vulnerable to the same things that affect all of us.ā