Fred Vasseur: Ferrari ‘2000% behind’ Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari Team Principal and General Manager Fred Vasseur has publicly backed Lewis Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton endured a difficult weekend under the lights in Saudi Arabia. The seven-time world champion ended the Saudi Arabian GP in the shadow of team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Issues began in qualifying, with Hamilton lapping 0.531s slower than the Monegasque. Lining up P7, he quickly fell behind the top six at lights out, unable to challenge those in front. He finished in the same position as when he started, lapping almost a second slower than Leclerc.

His performance in Jeddah was in stark contrast to China, where he took a stunning sprint pole position and victory. Since then, Hamilton has been in a downward spiral. Struggling to acclimatise, he has admitted that he does not fully understand his Ferrari.

Ferrari fully behind Lewis Hamilton

Speaking to the media after the Saudi Arabian GP, Vasseur said Ferrari would investigate Hamilton’s performance issues immediately.

He said Hamilton’s performance in China confirmed “potential is there” for better results.

“I will be 2000% behind him and I will give him support here, and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons and to work on it early in the morning.

“But honestly, I am not too worried; if you have a look on what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week, or even on the first part of the season except in this weekend, the potential is there for sure.

“We just have to adjust the balance because we are, collectively, Lewis and us, we are studying the balance of his car and he is working the tyres and it’s a kind of negative spot, but I think the potential of the car is there and we will try to solve that.”

“In China it was the second race of the season for us, and [he] was able to do the pole position to lead the race from Lap 1 to Lap [19], to finish in front of [Oscar] Piastri and [Max] Verstappen. It’s not a transitional thing.”

Difficult comparison to Leclerc

With Leclerc securing a podium, Fred Vasseur said Hamilton’s disappointed reaction was entirely understandable.

“For sure he’s down because when you finish the race in sixth, seventh and your team mate is on the podium, honestly I take it as positive that Lewis is down, because if he was happy with this it wouldn’t be normal.”

“He’s a racer, he’s a competitor, he wants to get the best from what he has and for sure he’s disappointed. Now we have to work together to react together, and it will be the only way to move forward.”