Fred Vasseur has opened up about his markedly different relationships with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, revealing the uniquely close bond he shares with the Monegasque while also explaining how the seven-time world champion’s move to Ferrari took shape. The Ferrari team principal also admitted that Lewis Hamilton’s now-iconic photograph with an F40 placed an unexpectedly intense spotlight on the Maranello team.
The French manager discussed both of Ferrari’s current drivers in the biography En Piste, which retraces his career in motorsport through personal reflections, anecdotes and contributions from several important figures who have played a part in his professional journey. His comments offer further insight into the human relationships behind Ferrari’s partnership with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Fred Vasseur describes his visceral attachment to Charles Leclerc
Fred Vasseur began with Charles Leclerc and made no attempt to conceal the closeness that has developed between them during their years together.
“There are several drivers to whom I have been very close, but nothing comes close to the visceral attachment I have to Charles,” Fred Vasseur said. “We do not always need to speak to each other. We look at each other and understand one another.”
The Ferrari team principal then explained how his relationship with Lewis Hamilton differs from the understanding he shares with Charles Leclerc.
“With Lewis, it is a little different. There is a deep relationship of trust. I know I can trust him, and he knows he can trust me. We met 20 years ago, but I do not have the same complicity with him that I have with Charles. I have a relationship with Charles that goes beyond the professional sphere.”
Charles Leclerc also contributed to the book and confirmed the importance of Fred Vasseur’s influence throughout his career. The pair previously worked together at ART Grand Prix in GP3 and later reunited at Sauber before becoming central figures in Ferrari’s Formula 1 project.
“Fred is one of the most wonderful and rewarding people I have met in my life!” Charles Leclerc said. “I feel as though he has always been by my side throughout my career. He was there at every level I reached, and if I am here today, performing at a level that allows me to aspire to the world championship, it is thanks to the work he has done alongside me over all these years.”
“Fred has been my good fortune, and he is the Scuderia’s good fortune. He gives you the confidence without which nothing is possible.”
How Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move took shape
Another section of the biography focuses on Lewis Hamilton. Fred Vasseur recalled their first meeting in the junior categories, when the British driver joined the French ART Grand Prix operation.
“As an Englishman, he was already extremely brave to join a French organisation,” Fred Vasseur explained. “If it had not worked, they would have torn him apart. I have seen that same courage in him today; otherwise, he would not have joined us.”
“I also found the same emotional side. During the 12 months before his arrival in Maranello, he imagined, reimagined and then imagined the scene all over again. The photograph of him posing in front of the F40 says a great deal from a human perspective and reveals his attention to detail. Lewis leaves nothing to chance, at any level.”
Fred Vasseur also revealed how negotiations to bring Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari began, explaining that the first exchanges took place in a playful rather than formal manner.
“At first, it was all said jokingly, a few months after I arrived at Ferrari,” the French manager recalled. “You make a joke and see how he reacts. We spoke about it more seriously on 28 May, at his home, around the time of the Monaco race. It was my birthday.”
“The situation was bizarre because he was about to sign his renewal with Mercedes, while we already had two drivers under contract. We parted by saying that it would be complicated. But he came back to me a few weeks later and told me that he had been given a one-year contract with an option for another year in his favour.”
“At that point, the path was clear and we reached an agreement. Ferrari had been in his mind for a very, very long time, and the planets aligned.”
Why Lewis Hamilton’s F40 photo concerned Fred Vasseur
Lewis Hamilton’s first official day at Maranello produced one of the defining images of his move to Ferrari. Dressed formally and standing outside Enzo Ferrari’s former home alongside an F40, the British driver generated enormous global attention before he had even driven a Ferrari Formula 1 car.
Fred Vasseur admitted that the scale of the reaction made it harder for the team to operate away from public scrutiny.
“The famous photograph with a billion views put all the spotlight on us, in an Italy where everything is extremely emotional,” he said. “It would have been better if we had remained under the radar…”
The team principal then highlighted the unusual balance between the strength of Ferrari’s identity and Lewis Hamilton’s enormous international profile. His comments underline the wider expectations surrounding the Italian team, a subject Fred Vasseur has also addressed in his assessment of Ferrari’s 2026 campaign.
“Ferrari has always positioned itself above its drivers, and perhaps for the very first time it has had to deal with an individual who possesses the same kind of aura,” Fred Vasseur concluded. “When Michael Schumacher arrived in Maranello, he was still far from Lewis’s global stature.”.
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