Lewis Hamilton backs Fred Vasseur but says Ferrari leadership structure could change
Lewis Hamilton backed Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur while suggesting the broader leadership around him could be altered, speaking on Thursday in Sepang before this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at the Sepang circuit. His comments came as Vasseur faced heightened scrutiny following Ferrari’s recent underperformance.
Speculation over Vasseur’s future intensified after former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said last week that taking over at Ferrari would be his dream job, and Ferrari issued a statement on Tuesday saying they had full confidence in the Frenchman. Hamilton echoed that support in Sepang, saying: "Structure is very important and so is stability and everyone rowing in the same direction is key in any business." He added: "There often seems to be a lot of focus on one individual and one role here. Fred is a fantastic leader and he really is the guy to take this team in the right direction."
Hamilton named figures above Vasseur at Ferrari, noting the executive chair John Elkann and chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna sit higher in the organisation, and he contrasted Vasseur’s position with Toto Wolff’s role at Mercedes. "There is a structure that has been there for some time and whether or not that needs looking at moving forwards? There are obviously also people above Fred and it is not about one person," he said. "There are changes I would make but I am not going to talk about what those are. Toto is in a different position to Fred. The structure is a lot different."
On track this season, Hamilton took his first win for Ferrari at Barcelona and his teammate Charles Leclerc won at Silverstone. Ferrari sit second in the constructors’ championship but are 160 points behind Mercedes, and Hamilton trails the drivers’ title leader Kimi Antonelli by 103 points.
Ferrari began the year with what was regarded as one of the strongest chassis on the grid but their performance has weakened as McLaren and Red Bull developed their cars, a decline that has intensified pressure on Vasseur. Hamilton acknowledged the scrutiny surrounding the team was upsetting and described the media atmosphere around Ferrari as disproportionate compared with other teams.
"It is frustrating to see all the negativity. You see other teams making mistakes and no one says too much about it. We make the same mistake, and we know we are not perfect, but it is 10 times worse for Ferrari," he said. "I don’t read all the stuff, so it has zero effect on me, but when I come into the room I can see it definitely affects individuals on the team. They don’t know what is happening behind closed doors and they don’t know how hard everyone is working and it is all done by assumptions and opinions. We are going to focus on doing the best job we can regardless of what is written. I knew it wasn’t going to be in my second year [at Ferrari] where we would be where we want to be, but I am hoping and praying that we will get there."
Hamilton made these remarks ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at the Sepang circuit, the event billed as a replacement for the meeting cancelled earlier in the season because of the war in the Middle East, where Ferrari will aim to arrest their decline in form.