Ralf Schumacher makes bold Ferrari F1 title claim after British GP win

Ralf Schumacher believes Ferrari can fight for the 2026 Formula 1 world championship

Following a dramatic British Grand Prix, former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports Germany pundit Ralf Schumacher has declared Ferrari a genuine championship contender.

The Maranello outfit celebrated a historic milestone at Silverstone, with Charles Leclerc securing the team's 250th grand prix victory.

The grand prix concluded under safety car conditions following Max Verstappen becoming beached in the gravel late in the race. While the safety car remained on track until the chequered flag, Leclerc had shown he had the pace for at least a podium finish.

His Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton lost second place to Mercedes' George Russell after pitting under the safety car, so finished the race in third.

While reflecting on the Fred Vasseur-led team's successful haul of points and 250th win after the race, Schumacher explained on Sky Sports Germany: "We missed out on congratulating [Lewis], as it looked very different last year. There was lots of pressure on everything, and all the things he's done seem to have helped him.

"Lewis Hamilton is functioning within the team, so everything is headed in the right direction, and Ferrari can fight for a world championship again! That's been a while."

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

The British Grand Prix was Leclerc's first win of the 2026 season. "It feels incredible. Unfortunately, the end was maybe not the one I would have dreamt of," the Monegasque driver explained after the race.

"To win after the last few weekends that have been particularly difficult. All the work we put into trying to get the feeling back in the car, felt like I found something yesterday after the sprint. But I had to confirm it today.

"Today the feeling was back where it needs to be. I'm so incredibly happy."

He added: "After Monaco, the feeling wasn't there. I crashed in Q3, then in the race we had an issue and that ended our race. In Barcelona, I felt good but crashed again on Saturday. Then on the Sunday we had an issue with the car.

"Austria wasn't so great, but here we managed to put everything together and I hope I can keep that momentum going forward."