‘Hamilton wants attention, you can see that in his outfits’ - Schumacher

Hamilton was out-qualified and out-raced by his younger teammate in Miami after suffering his worst-ever qualifying result on US soil.

Both Mercedes were encouraged by their performance on Sunday as Russell and Hamilton finished fourth and sixth respectively to close the gap to Aston Martin in the constructors’ championship.

Writing in his post-race column for Sky Deutschland, Schumacher made an unusual claim that Hamilton “wants attention” and that’s evidenced in his fashion choices.

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“Lewis Hamilton is currently going to be extremely seething,” Schumacher wrote.

“He’s not used to not winning. He wants attention, you can always see that in his outfits.

“In Miami he landed behind his teammate George Russell. This is a maximum penalty for Hamilton.”

Mercedes are pinning their hopes on a substantial upgrade at Imola later this season.

Schumacher believes Mercedes are best placed to close the gap to Red Bull, if they can, rather than Ferrari or Aston Martin.

“Whether Red Bull will be dangerous again this season will become apparent in Europe when the many updates come,” he added.

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“Where you can always hope is that Red Bull doesn’t get the best out of the car. Then there might be a chance for someone else.

“Especially Mercedes could be expected again after the updates, I don’t trust the other teams that much.

“Mercedes is coming to Europe with a whole new concept. I expect a significant increase, otherwise they have a real problem.”