17/04/2025 13:10
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur insists he likes how Lewis
Hamilton has responded to setbacks early in his time with the
Italian team. After qualifying ninth for the Bahrain Grand Prix,
the seven-time F1 drivers' champion could not hide his
disappointment. Part of Hamilton's struggles at the Scuderia are
derived from the difficulty he is finding in adapting to a new car
after such a long time racing for rivals Mercedes. The Briton has
singled out his unfamiliarity with the brand of brakes used by the
Maranello squad and the need to use engine braking with the SF-25,
which was not required at his former team. "You won't replace 12
years of collaboration in two weeks or two races," Vasseur told the
media, including RacingNews365 . "For sure, we need to improve, but
I think this is true for everybody in the team, in the paddock -
the DNA of our sport is to try to do a better job." The Frenchman
maintains that Hamilton's current frame of mind is positive, as he
seeks out improvement and looks to find comfort driving the
Ferrari. "And I think it's good to have Lewis with this mindset
[of], 'It's okay. I have to improve myself and adapt myself to the
car.' "We will work on the car, to adapt the car to Lewis, but he
also needs to take a step. And I think this, between us, is done in
a positive way and a very constructive way. "Now, the fact that he
was a bit down [after qualifying in Bahrain], I like it, because if
he is coming back P10 [P9], and he says, 'Ah, it's a shame'... "But
no, for sure he was disappointed, because he was much better all
the weekend so far [up to that point]." Vasseur hands Hamilton
reset The 105-time grand prix winner put together a strong display
during the grand prix, recovering to fifth place by the chequered
flag, one position behind team-mate Charles Leclerc. Reflecting on
why Hamilton had to work his way back through after qualifying,
Vasseur was quick to highlight how big an impact a small error or
failing to fully execute can have on a weekend in contemporary F1.
"Now, we know it happens like this in F1 today - that was not the
case three, four years ago - when you had a five-tenths [of a
second] between the teams, because if you do a mistake, you lose
one position, one row," the 56-year-old explained. "Today, you lose
five tenths [and] you can lose six or seven positions. Charles was
on the first row, but if he was three or four hundredths [of a
second] slower, he would have been P6 [on the grid]. "It's always
relative, you know, [so] we have to stay calm in terms of judgement
of the performance, because sometimes, for almost nothing, you can
change a good weekend to a very poor one, and vice versa. "It meant
that I appreciated the direction of Lewis [after qualifying]. I did
my best to push him a little bit, and [in the race] he was in a
very good shape and very strong shape. But let's start from there
next week and hope to do the best."
