01/09/2025 11:45
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has confirmed the Italian squad
will look into Lewis Hamilton's race-ending crash at the Dutch
Grand Prix, despite not initially believing there to be any issue
with his car. It appeared to be an uncharacteristic driver error
from seven-time F1 drivers' champion, but the Frenchman was
nonetheless pleased with Hamilton's response to a difficult period
before the summer break, highlighting his strong pace at Zandvoort
before his SF-25 ended up in the wall on the exit of Turn 3. When
it was put to Vasseur that the British driver seems to make
mistakes just as he is making a breakthrough with the Prancing
Horse, he disagreed with the suggestion that it was down to
confidence, instead arguing Hamilton's crash in the Netherlands was
an isolated incident. "Not really. I think that this one was a bit
of a special one," the 56-year-old told media, including
RacingNews365 . "The track was a bit damp. It was during the first
drizzle. He was a bit wider than the lap before that. Now we need
to investigate if something happened on the car or not, but I don't
think so. "But overall, the reaction from Lewis was good, that he
was into the pace of the car and of Charles from the beginning of
the weekend. He was catching up to Russell at that stage [of the
race]... "That was a good recovery after two tough races before the
break. But for sure, the outcome is not the one expected."
Zandvoort was 'good preparation for Monza' - Vasseur The
40-year-old has endured a torrid first campaign with the Scuderia,
but his weekend in Zandvoort was a notable step forward from the
difficult patch he suffered through in Belgium and Hungary. Vasseur
believes it will provide Hamilton with an injection of confidence,
something he feels is "good preparation" for the Italian Grand
Prix. "Overall, yes," he replied when asked if the 105-time grand
prix winner would have got a boost from the round. "I think that
we'll see tomorrow when we do the full debriefing. "But the first
reaction after the race was more positive on the weekend, on the
fact that he was there, he was fighting for P5 or P4 in the race.
"That is much better than what he did last race, in Budapest. It
means that I think the confidence is back, and it's a good
preparation for Monza." Hamilton's task at Ferrari's home race was
made more formidable following the Dutch Grand Prix when he was
handed a five-place grid penalty for a yellow flag infringement
prior to race start.
