Lewis Hamilton has spoken out about the recent barrage of comments on Ferrari’s Team Principal Fréd Vasseur’s performance at the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix.
After 10 rounds in the F1 Calendar, Ferrari lies second in the Constructors Championship. However, Ferrari’s season has been marred by underachievement, concerns over strategic calls, and the pace of the SF-25.
Concerns over Ferrari’s deteriorating performance have led to criticism of Team Principal Fréd Vasseur, who has been criticised in the Italian press.
However, star-signing Lewis Hamilton has jumped to Fred Vasseur’s defence, despite his struggles with the prancing horse in 2025. Speaking in the Thursday driver press conference, the seven-time world champion praised Team Principal Fréd Vasseur.
“I’ve not read the stories. It’s definitely not nice to hear that there are stories like that out there.
“Firstly, I love working with Fréd. Fréd’s the main reason I’m in this team, and I got the opportunity to be here, for which I’m forever grateful. We’re in this together. We’re working hard in the background. Things aren’t perfect. But as I said, I’m here to work with the team and with Fréd. I want Fréd here.”
Hamilton continued to praise Vasseur and believes he can take Ferrari to its peak once again.
“I do believe Fréd is the person to take us to the top, and so that’s that. To me. It’s all nonsense what people have written. Most people don’t know what’s going on in the background.
“It isn’t all easy, like, it’s not the smoothest sailing. We are having to make changes, and there’s a lot of work to do. Naturally, there’s a lot of pressure because we want to win, but that’s not any part of the discussion at the moment.”
Ferrari sit second in the Constructors Championship, but are still 197 points behind the dominant McLaren this season.
Ferrari’s Spanish GP issue
During the Spanish GP at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Hamilton and Charles Leclerc faced problems with the SF-25. However, both were still able to place in third and sixth, respectively.
When asked how the problem affected them during the race before being told by Fréd Vasseur that both cars were carrying issues, Hamilton was honest.
“Massively. Unfortunately, the team yesterday said they didn’t really want us to talk too much about it, but we both had issues that were hindering us massively from halfway through the race already. I didn’t know whether or not we had that problem, but I said on the radio that it was the worst-feeling car I’d ever had – and it truly was with that issue.
“At the end of the race, I was like, ‘Jeez, I’ve never experienced something this bad for such a prolonged time through a race’. It wasn’t until after the TV interviews, I got back to the engineers and we found out there was an issue. It was a bit of a relief to hear that because I didn’t feel so terrible afterwards.”
The SF-25 has been difficult this season, especially with the seven-time World Champion as he has struggled with the SF-25 during his first season at Ferrari, as he has consistently placed below his teammate throughout the season, but has shown signs of skill and performance, such as his Sprint Race win in Shanghai.
The SF-25 has also shown a tendency to porpoise at high speed. This was particularly evident during the Spanish GP. The SF‑25 lapped slower than its predecessor in medium‑speed corners by about 0.4 seconds.
Hamilton reveals fondness of Canadian GP
Hamilton has enjoyed vast amounts of successes at the Canadian GP. He famously claimed his maiden F1 victory at the circuit in 2007 with McLaren.
He has won a further six times at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, tying with Michael Schumacher for the most wins.
But the seven-time world champion gave a candid response when asked if a great weekend in Montreal would give him a boost.
“I don’t feel that I’m searching. Of course, a good weekend is always a good thing, but I don’t feel like I’m in desperate need of one.
“I think it looks a lot worse outside than it probably is on the inside. Even just coming from engineering now, how they set the car up compared to any other year that I’ve been here is completely different. And having discussions with engineers to change things.
“There’s a certain way they like to work, and it’s ‘hold on a second – that doesn’t actually make sense’. Like, this is what I’ve done for the last 17, 18 years here, and it’s worked in a lot of them.”
Hamilton also stated the importance of consistency to make “constructive changes”, revealing the car has a “real sweet spot”.
“Getting those things to consistently work with the team and making sure you’re working in a constructive way to make changes. The car has a real sweet spot, and we’re trying to get it working at all those tracks, which everyone’s having a struggle with. Yeah. I’m hoping this weekend can be strong.”
