Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is expecting Lewis Hamilton to enhance the Scuderia’s mindset as it keeps working towards a first Formula 1 world title since 2008.
Ferrari fought for this year’s constructors’ championship with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz until the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where its 21-point deficit on McLaren proved to be too large to overcome as it ended up 14 points away from the crown, vanquished by race winner Lando Norris’ impeccable drive.
This has nonetheless been, in terms of grand prix wins (five) and podium finishes (22), the team’s most successful season since Sebastian Vettel’s bid for the 2018 drivers’ title.
Ferrari has recovered under Vasseur’s leadership since he took over as team principal in January 2023, and the Frenchman is adamant that new hire Hamilton will make a difference when the seven-time world champion replaces Sainz alongside Leclerc next year.
Hamilton spent the last 18 seasons racing for McLaren and Mercedes with both squads of British tradition, and Vasseur believes this different culture will be enriching for the “isolated” Scuderia – normally featuring a large contingent of Italian engineers and mechanics as one of Formula 1’s three teams mostly based outside England.
Unconcerned by Hamilton’s recent lack of one-lap pace, Vasseur claims the Briton’s work ethic will make a difference when it comes to margins as fine as they were this season.
“I am convinced that Lewis will come with his own experience, with the background of 18 years in F1, with a couple of titles and so,” Vasseur said following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, “and it will be a real push to keep this mindset, to try to do a bit better everywhere.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, congratulates Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari, 2nd position, after the race
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“I perfectly remember with Lewis in 2005-06 that he was already like this, pushing on the small details,” he added, referring to his time leading the ASM/ART outfit in junior single-seaters. Racing for the French team, Hamilton dominated the 2005 F3 Euro Series and the 2006 GP2 Series – F2’s predecessor.
“At the end of the day, if you have a look, I think that on average the delta between McLaren and us in qualifying was a couple of hundredths, and we are really at this stage, also with Red Bull and Mercedes, that we are speaking about details.
“We…
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