Ferrari Formula 1 boss Frederic Vasseur is convinced Lewis Hamilton’s switch from Mercedes in 2025 will “add value” that goes past pure lap time benefits in the car.
Hamilton chose to activate a break clause in his existing Mercedes contract to negotiate a deal to partner the incumbent Charles Leclerc at Ferrari from next season.
The Briton will bid to secure a record eighth Drivers’ title upon his move while also aiming to end the Italian marque’s championship drought stretching back to 2008.
However, Vasseur cites how the talents that have taken Hamilton to seven titles and 103 victories are not the sole positives that Ferrari will gain from the relationship.
The Frenchman, who worked with the Mercedes racer in his 2006 GP2 season, has explained how the team is profiting from Hamilton’s signing even before his arrival.
“The input of Lewis or another driver is not just about qualification lap time and so on,” Vasseur told Motorsport.com.
“It’s the finality of the job. What we all collectively can see Saturday or Sunday, at the end of the day, the job of the driver is much wider. It’s starting sometimes six or eight months before the season, to be able to work on the next project, to bring his own experience, his own view on what we can do, or how we could do it and so on and so on.”
Vasseur has enacted an aggressive recruitment drive since taking over from Mattia Binotto in late 2022, which has contained acquiring two members from Mercedes.
The ex-Sauber boss has claimed Hamilton’s experience operating in a multiple title-winning operation will be invaluable to the Maranello-based squad’s budding setup.
“I think we are still a young team. It’s not just a matter of age, but it’s a matter of experience together, and wins together,” he elucidated.
“So that means that we are quite green, or quite young, and to have someone into the loop with such a big background and such big experience will impact for sure.
“We have time to discuss this with Lewis and, for me, into the building process of the team – you want to have a long-term view and for the next cycle.
“I’m not speaking about ’24 or ’25, it’s about cycle and it’s where clearly, we have to do steps.
“We made some improvements already I think, compared to 12 months ago, to involve the drivers much earlier into the project and to build up the characteristic of the car with them.
“I think we are going in the right direction. But for sure Lewis will add value.”
Vasseur was also pleased that the news regarding Hamilton’s impending arrival did not leak much in advance as has been the case with previous incidents at Ferrari.
“We had no leaks,” Vasseur said. “I think it was done by purpose by someone from the UK,” he continued in reference to the media reports that surfaced that morning.
He then added: “I really appreciated that we are a small group, and we worked for months, and we are able to go until the end and had no leakage. It was a good one.”
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