Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has shrugged off comments from Lewis Hamilton prior to the final Formula 1 race of 2025 that he was full of “rage and anger”.
The Brit made the statement after being dumped out of Q1 in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, compounding what has been a miserable first year with the Scuderia.
Hamilton has, for the most part in 2025, cut a miserable figure, appearing to internally try and figure out how to extract more from the SF-25 car.
With a myriad of shortcomings, the car has left the Maranello squad winless in a season for the first time since 2021, with Hamilton becoming only the seventh man to complete a full season for the team without a podium.
Vasseur has known Hamilton for many years, having been his boss in his pre-F1 GP2 title success in 2006, and waved away the importance of his comments.
“I don’t pay attention to the reaction on the TV. Honestly, the reaction that sometimes they have on the microphone, in the car, on the radio,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“In the TV pen, they are jumping out of the car five minutes after the session. And you are asking them questions.
“I can understand that sometimes the guy is a bit emotional. And he wants to go back to the engineering office and discuss with the engineer to understand why.
“Honestly, the most important for me is to have a guy coming back to us and pushing the team to do a better job. And we work all together to try to get better results.
“The fact that there are emotions sometimes on the radio, it depends on the guy. You know perfectly, all of you know perfectly.”
Vasseur insists Hamilton feedback is creating ‘positive dynamic’
Vasseur has also known Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc for many years, too, and likened the Monegasque’s difference in demeanour to the lack of significance he plied to Hamilton’s statement.
“Charles is always a bit of criticism with himself first and with the team and with everybody,” he said. “But it’s always with a positive dynamic.
“I’ve known Charles for 16 years. And he was always like this. He was always complaining about everything. But it’s a positive dynamic. That we are there just to do a better job.
“And it doesn’t matter if you are P4, P3, P1. The DNA is to do a better job. I accept this perfectly. And the most important for me is that they keep the same approach to the debriefing.”
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton to put his phone ‘in the bin’ after debut Ferrari F1 season ends with unwanted first
Discussion about this post