Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has stated there is “nothing magic” about Lewis Hamilton‘s claim that certain things have to change in the Formula 1 team going into 2026.
Hamilton’s maiden campaign with Ferrari didn’t live up to the expectation that accompanied his switch, as he ended 2025 without a single appearance on the podium.
The Italian marque’s capricious SF-25 challenger exacerbated the struggles that the seven-time champion has experienced with F1’s modern ground effect machines.
But while he hopes to be provided with a more benign car next season, Hamilton has also underlined the pressing need to have matters addressed behind the scenes.
“I’ve got to decide what my approach is when it comes to sitting down with the key stakeholders to make the decisions, and how that approach is to create the change that’s needed,” Hamilton told media including Motorsport Week prior to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“In terms of personal reflection, every weekend I’ve written down what I felt went wrong that weekend, the decisions I’ve taken, so there’s a lot of learnings to do there. Through my break I will analyse those decisions and make markers on how I can make better decisions in the future.
“My surroundings in terms of personal personnel, team personnel, how you utilise people, whether people need to move into different positions to work better – all these different things need to be looked upon in my personal space so that we can optimise our teamwork.”
Ferrari encourages Hamilton and Leclerc to be critical
Hamilton has not been alone in airing his views on Ferrari’s shortcomings, with a winless campaign also leading Leclerc’s patience with the team to start to be tested.
But despite Ferrari chairman John Elkann denouncing their public criticism, Vasseur has insisted that he welcomes the drivers challenging the team on certain points.
“I would be destroyed if I had the drivers telling me that we are doing a good job,” Vasseur told media including Motorsport Week.
“The summary of the season for a driver is to find where we can improve always. I’m not there to say we are doing a good job on this and this and this.
“Their DNA and my DNA is to try to push the team to do a better job. It means that they have to come to us. Charles and Lewis, it’s not Lewis or Charles. It’s both of them. They have to come to us and to push the team on the limit everywhere, on every single area.
“For sure, we can improve and we can improve everywhere. But last year, we were fighting until the last corner [for the Constructors’ title] and the reaction was exactly the same. Charles said, ‘OK guys, we have to improve on every single area, the simulator, the set-up’. I hope this is the DNA of their job and the DNA of our sport.
“I’m not shocked at all when they are coming to me and saying, ‘We have to improve on this, this, this’, because it’s what we are asking them to do.
“When I saw sometimes some articles that we had reports from the drivers asking for modifications. Honestly, on this, you are a bit naïve, because we have reports from the drivers every single race. There is nothing magic when the driver is sending a report to the team to say, ‘OK, we are doing this and this’.
“It’s their life. In the same way, we are trying to push them on the limit, to push them on the driving. I saw that it’s like this the last 35 years. There is nothing magic.”
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