Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur didn’t mince his words when discussing Lewis Hamilton’s race at the 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix. After a weekend that ended with a double retirement for Ferrari, the Frenchman’s assessment was direct and somewhat harsh, describing Hamilton’s two race incidents as “too many.”
The Brazilian Grand Prix was expected to bring valuable points for the Scuderia, with Charles Leclerc fighting for the podium and Lewis Hamilton aiming for a comeback drive through the field. Instead, both cars failed to finish, leaving Vasseur clearly frustrated with the missed opportunity. For Charles Leclerc, a podium was within reach, while Hamilton’s race unravelled after two separate collisions that damaged his car and compromised his performance.
Ferrari’s weekend in São Paulo started on the wrong foot, but the team managed to turn things around with competitive pace in the Sprint and a third-place finish for Charles Leclerc. However, Hamilton’s side of the garage experienced a series of setbacks. Starting from 13th on the grid, the seven-time world champion became entangled in two collisions. The first, at the start, involved Carlos Sainz — a racing incident that appeared to be more on the Spaniard’s side. The second, with Franco Colapinto, seemed to be a shared responsibility. The contact caused the floor of Lewis Hamilton’s SF-25 to lose around 40 points of downforce, leaving the car extremely difficult to control.
Despite the heavy damage, Ferrari initially kept Lewis Hamilton out on track, waiting to serve a penalty. But as the car’s performance deteriorated further, the team eventually decided to retire him from the race. In the post-race press conference, Fred Vasseur explained the reasoning behind the decision.
Vasseur: “It made no sense to continue”
“Lewis suffered damage first with Sainz and then broke the front wing with Colapinto,” Fred Vasseur said. “We lost an enormous amount of downforce, and he kept saying the car was unstable. We still don’t know whether that instability came from the contact with Sainz or from the front wing being pushed under the floor — perhaps both. If you look at what Max did today, I think we could have climbed back up and scored points. But two incidents are too many. At a certain point, it made no sense to continue. When you’re last and missing 35–40 points of aerodynamic load, it’s not worth risking damage to the power unit. We served the penalty and then retired the car.”
Fred Vasseur’s comments were measured but firm, showing little inclination to defend what happened. The team principal emphasized that keeping Lewis Hamilton on track would have been meaningless and potentially dangerous, given the car’s instability. The Ferrari SF-25 was simply too damaged to handle properly.
Still, Fred Vasseur and Ferrari are aware that expectations around Hamilton are immense. His performances so far have fallen short, especially when compared with Charles Leclerc’s consistency and results. Both the team and the fans are eager to see the British driver return to form, and Las Vegas could offer that chance. The Nevada street circuit is expected to be a more favorable track for the SF-25, and the Scuderia hopes it will finally provide Hamilton with an opportunity to deliver the strong performance he’s been chasing all season. For now, though, Fred Vasseur’s message is clear — mistakes must be reduced if Ferrari wants to stay competitive in the final rounds of 2025.
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