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Lewis Hamilton past-prime? «That's harsh. And it's not true!» replies Ferrari boss Frédéric Vasseur

Ferrari team boss Frédéric Vasseur takes stock of the first two Grands Prix of the season, which have been eventful for Formula 1, the Scuderia and Lewis Hamilton.

Fréderic Ferret

published on March 27, 2025 at 05:36 am

updated on March 27, 2025 at 2:44 pm

A tradition seems to be developing between L'Équipe and the man who, for the past two years, has been the boss of Ferrari. Last year, as he got off the plane from Shanghai, he came to our offices to share his rich experience with a few of our subscribers.

This year, Frédéric Vasseur (56) gave up his planned lunch with his deputy Jérôme d'Ambrosio on Wednesday to give us his analysis of a strange start to the season, whether for F1, the Scuderia or its new driver Lewis Hamilton, via video link from his Maranello office. The discussion lasted over half an hour, during which the former engineer demonstrated his didactic and pedagogical skills, as he often does, in an attempt to explain what many people, even in the paddock, fail to grasp.

«When the Ferrari boss returns from China after such a weekend, how does he feel? Is he satisfied with Lewis Hamilton's victory in the sprint race, or annoyed by the double disqualification at the end of the Grand Prix?

My job is to be able to analyze the positives and negatives of every situation in order to progress. In every weekend there are positives and negatives, and in this one there were both extremes. Unfortunately, what we often keep in mind is the last race or the last event.

So we went home a little frustrated, because we felt we'd taken a step forward compared with Australia (Leclerc 8th, Hamilton 10th). It didn't materialize in points with the disqualifications, but I think we were on the right track with plenty of positives: Lewis's pole and sprint win and Charles's race on Sunday. But then again, even the good stuff, you have to know how to analyze it and understand it in order to progress.

Was this sprint success important in validating the Hamilton project?

We don't need it to validate the project, as you say. Or maybe the project is much broader than the China sprint. On the other hand, we have fulfilled part of the contract. We won't have to answer the question of the first pole or the first victory. Out of the three races we've done, this was one of the biggest dominations we've had. To finish seven seconds clear of second place at the end of a race that's a third of a GP, that kind of answers the questions and doubts.

«When you're at Ferrari, you're never in the normal, everyday routine. There's always that passion.»

How is Ferrari dealing with Hamilton's arrival on a day-to-day basis? After the enormous excitement of the first three days when he arrived in Maranello in mid-January, is there still the same passion, the same pressure, or has everything returned to normal?

When you're at Ferrari, you're never in the normal, everyday routine. There's always that passion. Certainly even more so with Lewis. We saw it in China this weekend, we saw it in Australia. Now we're trying to stay away from it. Some people said to us, “Ah, you've made a lot of noise with Lewis this winter.” No. It was the press that made a lot of noise. We didn't ask for anything.

We took a photo. We didn't do a single interview. We haven't even done a launch in Maranello. So this craze exists, it's inherent to the team, to the drivers, but it's not something we're looking for. We just have to live with it. I take it as a positive, because it's good to have fans waiting outside who are enthusiastic. I like that energy.

Isn't the media hype sometimes too much to bear?

When you're in such an exposed sport, you know you're going to have to deal with it. We received a lot of criticism after the weekend in China, but that's part of the game. Formula 1 is a hyper-mediatized sport. You have to accept being applauded - that's nice - but you also have to accept being criticized - that's the law. My only concern is that the hype shouldn't get in the way of our work or our performance.

«Lewis can get the most out of everyone around him because he's demanding with himself, and that goes down very well when he's demanding with others.»

You meet again twenty years after working together in GP2, in 2006. Has Lewis Hamilton changed?

We all change in twenty years, but the common characteristic between the Lewis of today and the Lewis of 20 years ago is that he's ultra-demanding. The first to go for a run in the morning, the first to do sport. It's his trademark and he's kept it. And by being demanding with himself, he's also ultra-demanding with everyone else. He has this ability to push everyone a little. When it comes to driver performance, it's not just about braking late at turn eight.

Lewis can get the most out of everyone around him because he's demanding with himself, and that goes down very well when he's demanding with others. It also allows us to change our vision. We don't do things like Mercedes, like Red Bull, like McLaren; we all do things differently, but despite everything we all manage to finish in the same tenth. Lewis, because of his past, has other requirements, he thinks about things differently. And I'm not saying it's better or worse. But it helps us.

Since his arrival at Maranello, Hamilton has seemed transformed, more human or more open about his feelings, as when on Saturday he confessed that he had been affected by some of the criticism he had received…

(He interrupts) I don't know. But you have to admit that some of the reviews have been… (he hesitates) very harsh. To think that Hamilton is worn out, out of date, is harsh. And what's more, it's not true. Look at his last race last year: he started sixteenth and finished fourth, overtaking his teammate.

And what about Leclerc, isn't it too hard for him?

He's less in the spotlight, it's true. But it gives him more time to himself, to do other things, to be with his engineers. There's good in that. There could be a little frustration, a little jealousy, but I think Charles is intelligent, he understands the situation better and sees the positive side of it all. He can focus 100% on the sporting objective.

On Sunday, you weren't happy with the FOM's production, which had forgotten to broadcast part of Hamilton's message concerning internal instructions. Did you explain this to them?

I didn't have to. I told the press what I thought and that was that. I'm not saying that the FOM (Formula One Group, in charge of promoting, broadcasting and managing F1 events since 1987) did it on purpose. I don't know, I wasn't there.

Forgetting that it was Lewis who suggested that Charles pass was surely better for the show, but it was a little less sexy, a little less celebrity press, to discover that the champion decided on his own to let his teammate pass. Still, it was mega-classy and sporty on Lewis's part. A true demonstration of professionalism and respect for the team. And it's not often that a guy who's a seven-time world champion says, “I'm going to let my teammate through because he's going faster than me.”

Charles Leclerc's disqualification on Sunday is similar to what happened to Russell last year in Belgium (the Mercedes driver won and was disqualified for the same reason). Is there any way of trying, when you're on a single tire change, not to go under the weight limit because of rubber that's too worn?

(He interrupts) It's not just that. The tires are only part of the explanation… We also lost a liter of water when Charles' drink supply leaked. Disqualification for weight is always the sum of many small factors.

As for Hamilton's disqualification, it's a problem you've already encountered in 2023 in Austin with Leclerc…

Exactly. We had to be too aggressive. That's the way it is. This setback shows that we're striving for perfection and that sometimes we look too far.

«The aim of the game in F1 is to get to the limit of all the parameters, everywhere. To get to the last gram of weight, to get to the last tenth of a millimeter of skid, to get to the last millimeter of rear wing deflection.»

Does this mean there will be many more disqualifications?

Yes, that's for sure. You have to distinguish between disqualification for taking risks and disqualification for cheating. The aim of the game in F1 is to get to the limit of all parameters, everywhere. To get to the last gram of weight, to get to the last tenth of a millimeter of skid (floor wear indicator), to get to the last millimeter of rear wing deflection. So it's clear that the more pressure you're under, the more intense the battle, the more you need to get closer to those limits, and the more risks you take.

On Sunday, at the end of the race, you told us that you were perplexed by all these results, that you found it hard to analyze them. The other team bosses are saying similar things. How do you explain the fact that, in a sport that is so technical and so precise, you are all faced with a kind of incomprehension?

Formula 1 isn't that simple. When you build a car, you get a single-seater capable of a certain potential. Let's say your potential is 1'28” per lap, in the best of situations. If your team or your driver doesn't put everything in order, if a mistake is made somewhere, your lap time will drop to 1'28''4.

Before, there were five tenths between each team, so when Verstappen made the biggest mistake, which rarely happens to him, even if he lost four tenths, he was still ahead of us. Only by a tenth, but ahead of us. Today, some people think that McLaren is crushing everything, but we're very close in terms of lap times. We've got four teams within a tenth of each other.

Last year, in the last four races, when no one was making any changes, there were four different winners. And each time, the winner took half a lap off the others. This means that, depending on track, tarmac and weather conditions, the whole hierarchy can be changed. We're not talking about the potential of the car, or the potential of the driver - although they count for a great deal - but about extracting the potential we can from them over a weekend, depending on their characteristics.

Does pole position and sprint victory comfort you after Sunday's disqualification?

I don't need cheering up. I can see that the car isn't bad; we've got the figures to prove it. To win, you need to get close to your full potential, that 1'28''00 base I was telling you about, but that exposes you to mistakes. That's the rule. Verstappen, a year and a half ago, his car was worth 1'28''0 but the runner-up was worth 1'28''7. He didn't have to put himself at the limit, at the last millimeter of ride height, or scrape off the last hundred grams of weight or push harder on the brakes than the limit. He was doing 1'28''1 and had pole by five tenths. Today, it's not the same life. So he also makes mistakes, he makes set-up errors like the others, because we're all now in this dynamic of searching for the limit.

As someone who's been managing drivers for thirty years, would you change one of your drivers after two starts, as Red Bull seems about to do?

These are Red Bull stories. You don't know how difficult it is to judge what's going on in a team. You don't know what goes on there, what leads them to this decision. There are twelve billion reasons behind it, which only the team and the driver know. And sometimes, the driver doesn't know them. So I prefer not to comment. We may find it brutal because it's been two races, but we don't have 10% of the elements to judge. I hate it when people judge what we do, so I'm not going to do it for others.

Last year, you scored your first success at the third Grand Prix, in Australia. Will Ferrari be able to repeat that success next week at Suzuka, the third meeting of the season?