Lewis Hamilton has come out with passionate support for Fred Vasseur as the team boss faces an uncertain future once again at Ferrari. After a Christian Horner interview went public where the former Red Bull boss claimed that he’d be interested in joining the Italian team, reports started circulating that Vasseur’s position within the team was in a spot of bother.
This is, however, not the first time that Fred Vasseur’s position with Ferrari has been in a spot of bother, as multiple reports from the Italian publications surfaced last year as well, pre-Canadian GP, with similar claims. The recent set of rumors has led to the Italian team clarifying its stand that the Frenchman was going to continue with the team and his position was not in danger.
This weekend, ahead of the Bahrain GP in Malaysia, Lewis Hamilton was questioned about the latest rumors, and the driver came out in support of the team boss while taking a veiled dig at the Ferrari senior management. Talking about how you cannot treat Ferrari as a “one-man operation,” Lewis Hamilton said that questions may be asked of the people above Fred. In the interview given to F1TV, the 7x Champion said,
“Ultimately, it’s not a one-man operation. If you want to point fingers, point them somewhere else. There are lot of people above that also are a part of it. So if you want to take something from this message: Fred’s in his position, he’s not going anywhere, and I’m here to stay with him. And I still believe fully in where we’re going.”
He added,
“I think Fred has the full backing. There often seems to be a lot of focus on one individual in one role here. And you can see that, obviously, they’ve switched out lots of different people in Fred’s role. But Fred is a fantastic leader. He really is the guy to take his team in the right direction.”
Crediting Fred for the turnaround seen at Ferrari this season compared to the last one, Lewis Hamilton questioned if the structure that has existed for a while needs to be looked at. He said,
“However, there is a structure that’s been there for some time. Whether or not that needs looking at moving forward, there are obviously also people above Fred, and it’s not about one person. Fred has helped make changes in this past year, he’s helped us get to the second in the Constructors’ Championship. That’s a huge step from last year.”
Lewis Hamilton questions the disparity of reactions whenever Ferrari is involved compared to other teams
Lewis Hamilton also shared his amusement at how there is a clear disparity in the reaction in the media when it comes to Ferrari compared to any other team. A few races back, the incident between the driver and teammate Charles Leclerc became a big story in the media, even though similar incidents in the other teams did not have the same reaction.
Ferrari is often the team with the biggest spotlight in F1, and such reaction does come with the territory. Highlighting the disparity, Hamilton said,
“For me, it’s frustrating to see all the negativity. Because you see other people making mistakes, and they don’t normally say too much about them. We either make the same mistake, or are not perfect, and it’s ten times worse for some reason for Ferrari, but that’s also to be expected. Given that it’s the best brand here, it’s the most iconic by far. For me, I don’t read a lot, so that has zero effect on me. But of course, when I come into the room and see, it definitely affects individuals on the team.”
Heading into the F1 Malaysian GP, a track with two massive straights, how Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari fares around the track would be interesting to see.
