Ferrari’s 2025 Formula 1 season has been far from the expectations set during the winter months. The Scuderia remains the only one among the top teams yet to secure a race victory, and the morale of the drivers has been steadily declining. Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur has now shared his view on some of the comments that Lewis Hamilton has made in recent interviews with the Formula 1 media.
The seven-time Formula 1 World Champion has not yet managed to find the perfect connection with the SF-25. Some observers suggest that his lack of complete confidence may also be linked to the fact that he never fully adapted to the ground-effect generation of cars. This season has already provided a highlight with his impressive Sprint Race victory in China, but it has also been filled with several difficult weekends where he and the car seemed out of sync.
Nobody questions the talent or the ambitions of Lewis Hamilton, and Ferrari is counting heavily on the contribution he will bring as the team develops its car for the 2026 regulations. On paper, Ferrari’s current driver pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc is among the strongest on the grid. However, without a consistently competitive car, results are hard to achieve, and this situation has inevitably led to frustration within the Maranello camp.
The criticism from Vasseur
In a recent interview with the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, Fred Vasseur commented on a specific attitude that Lewis Hamilton tends to display when speaking to Formula 1 journalists. “It only makes things worse,” the Ferrari Team Principal said.
“Lewis is very self-critical. He always has extreme reactions. Sometimes he is too harsh on the car or even on himself. He always wants to achieve the maximum. Most of the time he exaggerates like this only with the press. By the time he arrives at the debrief, he has already calmed down. It is simply his way of expressing himself.”
Despite these occasional flare-ups in public, the relationship between Fred Vasseur and Lewis Hamilton remains strong, providing a solid foundation for ongoing collaboration. Vasseur also underlined that he is not overly worried about his driver’s attitude. “For me, it is not a big problem. Lewis demands a lot, both from others and from himself. I can live with that.”
The comparison with his teammate
One factor that seems to amplify Lewis Hamilton’s emotional outbursts is his direct comparison with Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver is currently in excellent form and has proven extremely difficult to beat, while Hamilton is unaccustomed to finishing behind his teammate. At the same time, it must be remembered that Charles Leclerc entered the 2025 Formula 1 season with a clear advantage, having already spent many years with Ferrari and being fully integrated within the team’s processes.
Fred Vasseur also addressed this topic in his interview. “You have to calm him down [Lewis] and explain to him that in Q2 in Hungary he was only one tenth behind Charles Leclerc, who then went on to take pole position. It is not such a big problem,” Fred Vasseur explained, referring to the qualifying session in which Lewis Hamilton was eliminated before Q3 while Charles Leclerc placed the Ferrari on pole.
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