13/05/2025 12:55
Fred Vasseur has said he can "perfectly understand" the frustration
Lewis Hamilton expressed en route to eighth place at the Miami
Grand Prix. The Ferrari team principal explained he spoke with the
British driver after the chequered flag at the Miami International
Autodrome, with the seven-time F1 drivers' champion claiming he
told his boss to "calm down" during that discussion. The exchange
followed tensions spilling over on team radio during the 57-lap
race, with Hamilton stating his remarks of "tea breaks" and asking
if he should intentionally let Carlos Sainz past were nothing more
than sarcasm. Not alone in playing down the episode, the
40-year-old was joined by Vasseur who maintained the Italian team
"did a good job" in Florida, despite widespread criticism of the
Scuderia. "I had a discussion with Lewis, and I can perfectly
understand the frustration," Vasseur told media, including
RacingNews365 . "They are champions, they want to win races. We are
asking them to let their team-mate go. It's not easy. "It's never
easy, and I didn't see another team do it, but it's why we took the
responsibility to do it because it's the policy for the team. "We
are racing for Ferrari first, and honestly, I think as a team, we
did a good job." 'It's not the story of the day' With Hamilton
remonstrating the inaction behind the wheel of his SF-25, Ferrari
did eventually swap him and Charles Leclerc around, before
reversing that move once it became evident the 105-time grand prix
winner would not find a way past Kimi Antonelli. Vasseur reiterated
it was not a straightforward decision , despite it potentially
appearing that way from the outside looking in. "Again, we can
argue that it would have been better to do it the lap before, but
when you are in control and you have to understand if the car
that's behind is faster than the car in front just from DRS or not,
it's not an easy call," the 56-year-old added. "It's always much
easier to do it two hours later. We asked them to do it, they did
it. The frustration when you are in the car, I can perfectly
understand this. "It's not the story of the day. We'd be much more
keen to speak about [why] we finished one minute behind McLaren."
