Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has repudiated Toto Wolff’s suggestion that Lewis Hamilton‘s struggles are linked to his driving style not suiting the current Formula 1 cars.
Hamilton has been unable to replicate the success he sustained with the previous generation cars, managing two victories since F1 reverted to ground effect in 2022.
But while that can be attributed to Mercedes enduring a downturn since the change, Hamilton’s level has also dipped when compared against his team-mate’s results.
The Briton’s woes have been most pronounced in qualifying, an area where he used to be renowned as a specialist with an unequalled 104 pole positions to his name.
Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin addressed that during 2024, a season in which George Russell out-qualified Hamilton 19 times in 24 rounds.
“Lewis hasn’t disguised the fact that Saturdays were his tough day,” Shovlin said last summer.
“He’s struggled with this whole generation of car, really, not suiting his style. He’s been working on how he drives.
“It’s particularly [that] he struggled on the single lap. So his long run pace is always there and that’s been really useful.
“It’s more just the way that he wants to attack a corner, when you do that, then the car would snap to oversteer. You start to build tyre temperature.”
Ferrari and Mercedes disagree on Hamilton decline
Hamilton’s move to a new environment has not provided an instant upturn as he has experienced various morale-denting setbacks since making the switch to Ferrari.
The seven-time champion claimed that he is “useless” as he succumbed to a Q2 exit at the Hungarian Grand Prix, while team-mate Charles Leclerc took pole position.
However, Mercedes Team Principal Wolff has tipped Hamilton, 40, to be reinvigorated at Ferrari next season when sweeping new technical regulations are introduced.
“Lewis has unfinished business in Formula 1,” Wolff told media including Motorsport Week.
“In the same way that Mercedes underperformed over this latest set of regulations since 2022, he kind of never got happy with ground effect cars, in the same way, it beats him. Maybe it’s linked to driving style.
“So, he shouldn’t go anywhere. Next year, brand new cars, completely different to drive, new power units that need an intelligent way of managing the energy.
“So, that’s absolutely on for Lewis, and I hope he stays on for many more years, and certainly next year is going to be an important one.”
Vasseur, though, does not subscribe to the notion that Hamilton’s aggressive late-braking approach isn’t compatible with the contemporary ground effect challengers.
Asked whether this ruleset has been Hamilton’s ‘war’, Vasseur told Auto Motor und Sport: “I don’t think so.
“If we had had bouncing, maybe. But even though we are always on the verge of bouncing, we now have it under control to some extent.”
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