Lewis Hamilton defended Fred Vasseur on Friday amid reports the Ferrari team principal will be ousted before the end of the Formula 1 season.
Reports have swirled for a bit as Hamilton, in his first season with Ferrari, and Charles Leclerc have yet to contend for victories. The speculation hit a new level ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix as multiple reports indicated Vasseur’s time is close to coming to an end.
Ferrari is almost 200 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ standings and hasn’t won a race since Mexico last season. Leclerc has scored a podium only three times in nine races, while Hamilton’s best finish this season is fourth.
Leclerc and Hamilton head into Sunday’s race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve ranked fifth and sixth in the driver standings and Hamilton appeared near tears following his sixth-place finish at the Spanish GP in F1’s last outing.
The reports about Vasseur have hinted that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner could replace him at Ferrari. Hamilton was disappointed by the speculation.
“He has a my full support. It’s definitely not nice to hear that there are stories out there,” Hamilton said Thursday in Montreal. “I love working with Fred. Fred’s the main reason I’m in this team and got the opportunity to be here and we’re in this together. We’re working hard in the background.
“Things aren’t perfect, but for me, as I said, I’m here to work with the team but also with Fred. I want Fred here. I do believe Fred is the person to be at the top. Ultimately, (the reports) are nonsense.”
Vasseur also received support from Carlos Sainz Jr., who spent two seasons driving for him at Ferrari before Vasseur replaced him ahead of this year with seven-time world champion Hamilton.
Sainz, who now drives for Williams, took issues with “finger-pointing” among the media covering F1.
“Same story as always, the moment that the results don’t click in Ferrari, there’s always finger-pointing by the media, and all this chaos happening,” Sainz said. “Fred and I have a great relationship. In the past, obviously, we went through a tough month where he didn’t want me and signed Lewis, but apart from that, we made peace about it, and I get on well, and I always rated him as a team principal and as a person.”
Ferrari a year ago finished second to McLaren in the constructors’ championship, and based on the addition of Hamilton, many predicted Ferrari would challenge for that title this season. Instead, Ferrari is far off the pace of McLaren as driver championship leader Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have combined to win seven of nine races.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull’s reigning three-time world champion, has won twice.
“I thought, honestly, Ferrari could be in the fight for the championship this year. That’s what I communicated to Charles, and to the team. For me, everything was coming into place,” Sainz said. “I had zero involvement in the development of the ’25 cars, so I don’t know where they went with the balance, with the setup, and why they are struggling to get a result this year out of it.
“At the same time, probably, McLaren is just doing an excellent job. If McLaren is doing such a good job, then it doesn’t matter how good you do, there’s just someone performing at a very high level with two super strong drivers and doing very, very good in F1 right now, and that is McLaren.”
Hamilton also explained his tearful frustration in Spain, an emotion that replaced his initial angry outburst at the end of the race. He said both he and Leclerc had issues with their Ferrari’s that made them incapable of competing from the midway point of the race.
“I said on the radio that was the worst feeling car that I’d ever had and it truly was,” Hamilton said. “At the end of the race I was like, ‘Geez, I’ve never experienced something this bad for such a prolonged time through a race.’”
It wasn’t until hours later when Hamilton met with engineers and learned there was an undisclosed issue hampering the Ferraris.
“There was a bit of a relief to hear that,” Hamilton said, “because I definitely didn’t feel so terrible afterward.”
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