Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur conceded that it “underestimated” the challenge Lewis Hamilton would face adapting to the team after his Formula 1 move from Mercedes.
Hamilton has endured a turbulent debut campaign with Ferrari, one where his results on track haven’t aligned with the mass anticipation that accompanied his switch.
The Briton was victorious on his second weekend with the side in the China Sprint Race, but he has gone the entire season to date without a Grand Prix podium in red.
That has contributed to Hamilton dropping 42 points behind Charles Leclerc, who has outraced his more experienced team-mate on all but two occasions in 14 races.
Hamilton went into the summer break having qualified outside the top 10 in both Belgium and Hungary, prompting him to state that Ferrari should look to replace him.
But with Ferrari committed to making the partnership thrive, Vasseur has recognised that both parties undervalued the time it would take Hamilton to get up to speed.
“Lewis and I, we collectively, probably underestimated the change of environment, and the fact that he spent, for me, 20 years in the same team,” he told The Race.
“McLaren was Mercedes, and then he moved to Mercedes [in 2013]: an English team [based in Brackley], same engine guys, that same culture and so on.
“So he spent 2006 to 2024, 18 years, in this environment, and then he arrived at Ferrari. And we were stupidly expecting that he will have everything under control.”
Vasseur highlighted that Hamilton is not as accustomed to changing teams as his predecessor, Carlos Sainz, whose switch to Williams marked his fourth since 2015.
“He’s not the guy who changed team every two years,” he pinpointed.
“You have guys on the grid that, if you have a look on Carlos, for example, he did Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, us and Williams in eight years.
“He changed four times. He’s used to dealing with this. Lewis was not the case.”
Why Ferrari is not worried about latest Hamilton downturn
Vasseur has stressed that he is not worried about Hamilton’s downturn, citing that slim margins derailed the progress he had been building prior to the double-header.
“Culturally speaking, there is a bigger difference between Ferrari and Mercedes than between Mercedes and McLaren. And this we underestimated,” he reiterated.
“It took Lewis four or five races to be a bit more in control. And I would say that from Canada, Spain, UK, Austria, he was there. He was.
“In Spa he had a tough weekend, but for different reasons with a difficult qualifying. But then in the race, he was very good. And [Hungary] I think it was more details.
“If you have a look at the [qualifying] classification, you see one is P1, the other is P12. But we were not far away from having Charles P11 and Lewis P12.”
Likewise, Vasseur had no problem with Hamilton’s critical remark during the Hungaroring weekend as he pinpointed that all elite-level drivers share the same mindset.
“He’s like this, and sometimes he was also like this at Mercedes,” Vasseur, who oversaw Hamilton’s title-winning GP2 season in 2005, added. “For me, it’s not a drama.
“I understand the approach of the guy. I understand the philosophy, and the fact that he’s very, very demanding with me, with the engineers, with the mechanics, but mainly with himself.
“And this, I think, everybody can perfectly accept this, as long as the driver is also demanding with himself.
“The example of Nico Hulkenberg is also a very good one. He was mega, mega demanding with all the team in F3. But he was the first one to go jogging at 6.30am in the morning.
“For the mechanics, it was OK. As long as the guy is pushing on himself, they were keen to have someone demanding of them.”
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