{"id":118167,"date":"2025-09-04T12:10:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T12:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/118167\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T12:10:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T12:10:12","slug":"ferrari-wonders-if-it-underestimated-impact-of-hamiltons-f1-team-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/118167\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferrari wonders if it underestimated impact of Hamilton\u2019s F1 team switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frederic Vasseur has admitted Ferrari<\/a> may have underestimated what it would take for Lewis Hamilton<\/a> to successfully switch to the Scuderia in Formula 1.<\/p>\n

Ferrari team boss Vasseur snatched Hamilton away from Mercedes<\/a> for the 2025 season after the Englishman had the longest and most successful collaboration in F1 history with the Anglo-German outfit. Over 12 seasons, their shared record included no fewer than 78 pole positions, 153 podium finishes including 84 victories, and six drivers\u2019 titles.<\/p>\n

Hamilton has somewhat struggled for performance since the ground-effect era began in 2022, and his recent switch to Ferrari has hitherto failed to yield convincing results, despite a sprint win at Shanghai. The 40-year-old has been outqualified by new team-mate Charles Leclerc<\/a> 13-5 so far, collecting 109 points to the Monegasque\u2019s 151, and is yet to appear on the podium in red.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know if we underestimated the importance of the change,\u201d Vasseur pondered on the Beyond The Grid podcast. \u201cHe spent 10 years at McLaren<\/a> [14 including six as an F1 race driver] and then 12 with Mercedes, but it was also a kind of continuity \u2013 two teams based in UK with the same engine, with the same environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it’s a complete change for him in his life, the culture of the team and everything. To do it in three days [of testing] in the winter period, it’s quite difficult, and I think also the expectation was huge, but we have to put everything in place. It’s taking time and we have also to manage the expectation and manage the noise around the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vasseur was keen to point out that Hamilton, albeit usually outperformed by Leclerc, rarely is miles away in terms of pace.<\/p>\n

\"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari<\/p>\n

Photo by: Ferrari<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are speaking about details,\u201d the Frenchman said. \u201cThe comments are positive or negative for plus or minus one tenth of a second, or plus or minus a click of front wing, or plus or minus something, but it’s always marginal. And this we have to keep in mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re not able to put everything together from the preparation of the weekend, adaptation to the simulator, blah blah until Sunday, you can miss one tenth there or one tenth there, and this is making a huge difference in terms of pure results.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to stay calm. He did very well in China. We had a very good recovery around Monaco \u2013 he was there in quali just with the top four, and then we got the penalty [a three-place grid drop for impeding Max Verstappen<\/a>]. All the races after this one we were back into a good pace \u2013 even Spa and Budapest, for different reasons it didn’t work but the pace was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The data backs up Vasseur\u2019s point \u2013 to some extent \u2013 as over the first 18 qualifying sessions of the season (sprints included) the average gap is 0.177s to Leclerc\u2019s favour, slightly skewed by a couple of driving errors by Hamilton, and the Briton has finished five grands prix right behind his team-mate, however beating him in just two.<\/p>\n

Hamilton has gradually become more and more downbeat \u2013 at least in his interactions with the press \u2013 as the season went on and his struggles became more obvious, to the point that he suggested Ferrari needed to replace him<\/a> after a Q2 exit at the Hungaroring, which followed a brace of Q1 mishaps at Spa-Francorchamps.<\/p>\n

\"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari<\/p>\n

Photo by: Simon Galloway \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s emotional \u2013 it’s up to us to support him when he’s struggling, and we also need to push him when he’s struggling,\u201d Vasseur insisted. \u201cSpa and Budapest were difficult for him, but he can be sure he has the full support of everybody at Maranello to recover, to be back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m really convinced he will do it and we have to be supportive with him every single day. I will be supportive every single day with Lewis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Letting Wolff know about Hamilton was \u201cnot the easiest call of my life\u201d<\/p>\n

Vasseur also reflected on his longtime friendship with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, and how it was impacted by high-profile hires like Hamilton as well as Mercedes performance director Loic Serra, who became Ferrari\u2019s chassis technical director last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always try to keep the two aspects completely separate \u2013 the friendly relationship that we can have and the fight on track,\u201d Vasseur clarified.<\/p>\n

\"Peter <\/p>\n

Peter Bayer, CEO, RB F1 Team, Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal and General Manager, Scuderia Ferrari, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team<\/p>\n

Photo by: Sam Bagnall \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s true that when I was at Sauber<\/a> [as its team principal] the fight on track wasn\u2019t every single weekend. Today we\u2019re fighting \u2013 also more fighting on the recruitment, but I think we\u2019re clever enough to keep the last 25 years of friendly relationship in mind. Even if we\u2019re fighting on Sunday or Saturday, to know that Monday morning we can start from scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delving more specifically into personnel being poached by either team, a philosophical Vasseur commented: \u201cThis is the life of a Formula 1 team, and we don’t have to be upset with this. For sure, when I had to give the call to Toto about Lewis, it wasn\u2019t the easiest call of my life, because I\u2019m perfectly aware of what happened when they helped me a lot also at some stages in my life. I try to keep it separately.<\/p>\n

\u201cToto is my friend. He will stay my friend for the next 30 years of my life. We are fighting. I hope that Toto will stay my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

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