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Fred Vasseur claps back at Hamilton criticisms

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Jaden Diaz-Ndisang | Last updated Apr 21, 2025 11:32 AM ET

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is unhappy with some of the suggestions being made about Lewis Hamilton. The Frenchman has expressed clear frustration with some of the narratives that are emerging.

With just five rounds complete in 2025, Vasseur is in no mood to entertain some of the claims being made about Hamilton.

Ferrari, Hamilton and Vasseur under growing scrutiny

When Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move was announced, it immediately became the biggest driver signing in F1 history.

The combination of F1’s most successful team and driver was always going to create both excitement and immense scrutiny.

In good moments, such as the 7-time Champion’s Sprint Race win in Shanghai, this combination can have its benefits.

However, across a 24-race season with inevitable highs and lows, Ferrari would perhaps prefer to have less of the spotlight.

Alongside the almost annual criticisms about the Scuderia’s performance, scepticism is growing about Lewis Hamilton’s form.

He himself has been very self-critical, underlining that he does not feel comfortable in the SF-25.

Teammate Charles Leclerc is currently extracting more from the car, both in qualifying and race trim.

Considering the accolades that Hamilton brings to the table, recent events have triggered increasingly negative claims about his trajectory.

His age inevitably comes into this equation, as is often the case when older drivers have poor results – even if only across a small sample size.

Vasseur uninterested in emerging narratives

When asked if Hamilton is having a dramatic drop in performance, Fred Vasseur made his disagreement known to Sky Sports:

“It’s not dramatically [Hamilton’s decline in form].

“We did five races so far. I know what you want to have the big headlines tomorrow that ‘Fred said this’.

“But this is f******** b*******t. At the end of the day, we are in competition. You have ups and downs.

“When we have ups, we are not World Champions. When we have downs, we are not nowhere.

“It’s just a competition.

“I’m not sure that you draw the same conclusion with Max last week, when he was 7th.

“It is like it is. The competition is tight. You have 10 cars and a couple of tenths.

“Have a look at Max. He won in Japan – he finished 30 seconds behind Piastri in Bahrain.

“And in Saudi Arabia, he was P2 and had Pole Position.”

A crucial stretch for Ferrari

On paper, writing off a World Championship after a handful of race weekends is premature.

McLaren’s transformation after their 2024 Miami updates is evidence of how quickly things can change in Formula 1.

With that said, Ferrari’s 110 point deficit to McLaren means there is already very little margin for error if they want to realistically challenge this year.

Crucially, unlike other top teams, the Scuderia have already introduced a relatively big update package.

These updates, which made their debut in Bahrain, have failed to put the SF-25 within striking range of the MCL39.

Charles Leclerc has spoken very transparently on this issue, expressing his frustration after qualifying in Jeddah that a near-perfect lap was only enough for 4th place on the grid.

This puts pressure on Fred Vasseur to rectify the situation and put Ferrari back in contention.

Considering they were very evenly matched with McLaren at the end of 2024, Ferrari’s performance this season has been very disappointing.

With the 2026 regulations representing such an unknown (and Mercedes widely speculated to have the best engine) the Maranello squad have a limited window to save this year’s campaign.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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