New Delhi, April 21 (IANS) Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has come out swinging in defence of Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time world champion endured another disappointing weekend at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, describing criticism of the British driver’s early-season form as “bullshit” in a fiery post-race rant.
Hamilton, who made a sensational switch from Mercedes to Ferrari this season, finished seventh in Jeddah — a performance that fell well short of expectations and was further underlined by team-mate Charles Leclerc’s podium finish. The Monegasque qualified fourth and secured Ferrari’s first Grand Prix podium of the year with a strong drive to third.
Hamilton’s reaction after the race was sombre. Calling the outing “horrible”, the 40-year-old admitted the rest of his season “is going to be painful” — a brutally honest self-assessment of what has so far been an underwhelming stint in red.
But Vasseur, visibly irritated by what he saw as overblown media scrutiny, was quick to stand by his marquee signing.
“I will be 2000 percent behind him,” Vasseur told reporters. “I will give him support and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons and to work on it early in the morning.”
Despite Hamilton’s lack of results — aside from a Sprint win in China, he has yet to finish higher than sixth in a full-length race — Vasseur remains convinced that the underlying pace is there.
“The potential is there for sure,” he stressed. “We just have to adjust the balance. Collectively — Lewis and us — we are struggling with how the car is working the tyres. But this isn’t a crisis.”
The Frenchman’s tone quickly shifted from calm analysis to frustration when further questioned about Hamilton’s form slump.
“It’s not dramatically,” he shot back. “We’ve done five races so far. I know you want a big headline tomorrow — ‘Fred said this’.
“At the end of the day, we are in competition. You have ups and downs. When we’re up, we’re not world champions. When we’re down, we’re not nowhere. It’s just a competition.”
Vasseur also drew attention to how Hamilton’s performance was being dissected differently compared to that of reigning world champion Max Verstappen. The Red Bull ace struggled to sixth in Bahrain but bounced back with pole and a P2 finish behind Oscar Piastri in Jeddah.
“I’m not sure you drew the same conclusion when Max was seventh,” Vasseur pointed out. “The competition is so tight — a couple of tenths between 10 cars. Max won in Japan but finished 30 seconds behind Piastri in Bahrain. This is the nature of modern Formula 1.”
“We just have to stay calm. I don’t care what conclusions you want to draw. At Ferrari, we’re staying focused — hundredths of seconds at a time.”
Hamilton has been open about the challenges of adapting to a new car and environment after 12 years at Mercedes. The Ferrari SF-25, while quick in Leclerc’s hands, appears to be an enigma for Hamilton, especially in terms of tyre management and qualifying balance.
Still, Vasseur rejected any suggestion that this season is simply a transition period for the British driver.
“It’s not a transitional time,” he said firmly. “Of course he’s down. When your teammate is on the podium and you’re not, it hurts. But honestly, I take it as a positive. If he wasn’t upset by this, that would be a bigger problem.”
“He’s a competitor. He wants to win. That frustration shows he’s still hungry — and that’s exactly the kind of driver I want in the team.”
With five rounds completed, Hamilton finds himself 68 points adrift of championship leader Oscar Piastri and already facing a mountain to climb. Ferrari, however, remain second in the Constructors’ standings behind McLaren, thanks largely to Leclerc’s consistency and a strong haul of Sprint points.
While questions continue to swirl around Hamilton’s future competitiveness at Ferrari, Vasseur’s public show of support — expletives and all — makes it clear the team is not panicking. Not yet.
“We’re a team,” Vasseur concluded. “We have weekends where we struggle and others where we succeed. The only way forward is to react together — and that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
–IANS
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