Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur believes Lewis Hamilton will end up being a “good asset” in helping the team “chase the last thousandth” across the board in Formula 1.
The Italian marque managed to take the Constructors’ Championship battle to the wire, but a double podium in Abu Dhabi was not enough to overturn McLaren’s lead.
Ferrari’s barren spell since 2008 will extend into another season in 2025 – when it will welcome Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc as he pursues a record eighth title.
Hamilton has brought the curtain down on an extensive career with Mercedes which spanned 12 seasons and saw him seize six Drivers’ Championships and 84 wins.
However, much has been made about the challenge Hamilton will have adapting to the unique environment that will greet him once he embarks on his Ferrari venture.
The Briton acknowledged as such post-race at the Yas Marina Circuit, citing that he will “need a break now” as he expects it’s “going to be a very steep learning curve”.
But the vast success that Hamilton has sustained at both McLaren and Mercedes prompted Vasseur to be asked about what his incoming driver will deliver to Ferrari.
“I think it’s always important to have people coming from other teams with a different culture,” Vasseur answered to media including Motorsport Week.
“It’s nothing to do against Italians or English or whatever.
“It’s just that we are in the business when the transfer of know-how is important and we are a bit isolated.
“But it will be a good push for us to have… It’s already the case because we were recruited a little bit to some other team and I think it’s a good push because you see it a bit differently.
“I’m convinced that Lewis will come with his own experience with the background of 18 years in F1 or 17 with a couple of titles and so on.
“It will be a good push just to keep this mindset to try to do a bit better everywhere not to imagine that the performance is coming from the others into the team.
“It’s not that the performance is coming just from my hero or whatever. It’s coming from everybody and this is important.”
Hamilton will help Ferrari court marginal gains
The last campaign under the current regulations is shaping up to be one of the closest ever as the top four teams all bagged a win across the last five races this term.
With the margin between the leading contenders poised to be tight, Vasseur is convinced Hamilton will help with his desire to ensure Ferrari leaves no stone unturned.
“I perfectly remember Lewis in 2006 [in GP2] that he was already like this pushing on small details,” the Frenchman continued.
“At the end of the day if you have a look I think average the delta between McLaren and us perhaps in qualification is a couple of hundredths.
“And we are really at this stage and it’s also with Red Bull and Mercedes that we are speaking about details coming from 100 topics of the car.
“We really need to have this kind of mindset to chase the last thousandth on every single area; I think Lewis will be a good asset for this also.”
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