Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has denied that “demotivation” with Formula 1 prompted Lewis Hamilton‘s downbeat comments across the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.
Hamilton endured a torrid run at the Hungaroring as an elimination in Q2 consigned him to 12th place on the grid, a position that he was unable to escape in the race.
The Briton managed a one-stop in his bid to salvage points, but extensive time behind slower-moving cars stalled his progress as he ended a lap down on the leaders.
That provoked Hamilton to double down on the suggestion that Ferrari should replace him, which came as team-mate Charles Leclerc achieved a shock pole position.
Vasseur has insisted he is not worried about Hamilton’s mindset, though, citing that his remark was a natural response to an athlete underdelivering on their potential.
“I don’t need to motivate him. Honestly, he’s frustrated, but not demotivated,” Vasseur told media including Motorsport Week. “Yeah, he’s demanding.
“But I think it’s also why he’s seven-times World Champion. He’s demanding with the team, with the car, with the engineers, with the mechanics, with myself as well.
“I can perfectly understand the situation. Sometimes you are making comments on what the driver is saying [in] the car, but if you put the microphone on some other sportsmen in football and so on, I’m not sure that it would be much better.
“Sometimes, just after the race or just after qualifying, you are very disappointed, and the first reaction is harsh. I can understand the frustration, but we are all frustrated.
“Sometimes, if you ask me [something], if I say [what I want] I will go to the stewards.”
Hamilton’s Hungary weekend worse than it looked
Vasseur also pinpointed that Hamilton was matching Leclerc until the final Q2 runs, where a two-tenth gap was enough to see him out while his team-mate advanced.
“When you are a seven-time World Champion, your team-mate is on pole position and you are out in Q2, it’s a tough situation,” he acknowledged.
“But overall, we can also have a deep look that he was in front of Charles in Q1, with the first set that he was one tenth off in Q2.
“We were not far away from having the two cars out in Q2. And the outcome of this is that Charles at the end is able to do the pole position.
“The issue is that when we were lacking performance and at risk, he did one lap two tenths slower than Charles, and he was out in Q2.
“I don’t know if we were unlucky with Lewis or lucky with Charles to go through, but at the end of the day, it’s really on the edge.
“But I can understand the frustration from Lewis, that’s normal, and he will come back. Then he was stuck in a DRS train, but when he was alone, the pace was good.
“I’m sure that he will be back and he will perform.”
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