Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has indicated that Lewis Hamilton is feeling more positive about his Formula 1 prospects despite crashing out of the Dutch Grand Prix.
The Brit lost it going into Turn 3 on Lap 23 of the race, sending his car into the outside wall, immediately ending his afternoon.
It had been a relatively strong showing from the seven-time World Champion up until that point, and was due in for his first tyre stop.
Hamilton immediately apologised to his team, and later remarked the crash had come as “a complete surprise”.
It was his first DNF for the Scuderia, and his first in F1 since last year’s United States Grand Prix.
Speaking after the race, Vasseur believed the crash was an isolated incident, as opposed to a lack of feeling for the SF-25, revealing Hamilton was catching George Russell’s Mercedes.
“Not really,” he said to media including Motorsport Week, when asked if it was due to a lack of confidence with the car. “I think that this one was a bit of a special one.
“The track was a bit damp during the first drizzle, it was a bit wider than the lap before, but now we need to investigate if something happened on the car or not, but I don’t think so.
“But overall, the reaction from Lewis was good, that he was into the pace of the car of Charles from the beginning of the weekend, he was catching up Russell at this stage, that he was fighting with Russell, that it was a good recovery after two tough races before the break, but for sure the outcome is not the one expected.”
Vasseur praises Hamilton to help Ferrari overcome ‘worst Friday in three years’
Vasseur praised Hamilton,, as well as team-mate Charles Leclerc, for helping push the team on over the course of the weekend, after a dismal showing in Friday’s free practice sessions.
“Honestly, we had the worst Friday of the last three years,” he said. “If you have a look at the pace of Friday, it was very, very difficult.
“Nothing worked at all, and thanks to the job done by the engineers, but also by the drivers, because they were very cooperative, they were pushing everybody in the right way, and it was a very collaborative Friday evening.
“We had a very good recovery on Saturday, it was not enough to fight with McLaren, but we are not far away, and today we are in a good pace.
“I think it’s also thanks to the job done by Lewis over the weekend, and by Charles, that they are part of the team in a good and bad moment, and the recovery was a good phase of the weekend.”
Vasseur said that, despite the DNF, Hamilton had a more glass-half-full approach on his prospects looking forward to his first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver.
“Yeah, but honestly, we discussed after the race, he was, I would say, much more positive than the last four or five events,” he said.
“The fact that he was in the pace, able to fight with Russell, that we recovered from the tough Friday and so, that the mood was very positive.
“For sure, he lost the car, for sure. But the mood was positive, because I think he can take a lot of positives of the weekend, and build up the confidence for Monza.”
When asked what Hamilton can take out of his current Ferrari experience to gain some enjoyment for it, Vasseur reasoned it was mostly as simple as getting more positive results.
“To enjoy it, it’s largely a matter of results, and confidence and pace, and the fact that you are into the game,” he explained.”
“But I think, honestly today, it’s why I think Lewis had the perception that today was much better, even if the outcome is not, but at the end of the day, he was able to fight, able to race Russell, and probably more today, it means that for himself, I think it’s good, and it’s like this that you will enjoy it.”
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