Does Hamilton need confidence boost from Ferrari amid delicate period?

So far, the marriage between the Maranello-based team and Hamilton has not delivered the expected results.

The seven-time world champion has yet to reach the podium after fifteen races, unlike his teammate, who has managed it five times.

The Monegasque has also been the only Ferrari driver to secure pole position this year, while the Briton has often struggled even over a single lap.

Frédéric Vasseur explained to GPblog over the Monza weekend the importance, in his role as team principal, of instilling confidence in a driver in difficulty like Lewis, who is coming off a negative spell.

''It's not just for Lewis,'' he stated. ''It's true, I think for everybody, that confidence is key in our business. He's coming after two or three difficult weekends, for different reasons.''

The Frenchman also commented on the penalty Hamilton received at Zandvoort, which will force the Briton to serve a five-place grid drop at Monza.

Asked how much frustration the penalty had caused, he said: ''Frustration—I’m not sure that’s the right word. For sure, we were a bit disappointed. Honestly, I don’t know if it was too harsh or not. But from Sunday evening in Zandvoort, my decision was to be focused on Monza and not to spend energy or whatever to fight this.''

He finally added: ''The frustration with the decision came also because—you have to slow down, yes—but it’s subjective. It’s not black or white. It’s not “you have to be at the pit lane.”

Hamilton’s first weekend as a Ferrari driver got off to a positive start, with the Briton setting the fastest time in the morning session.

He wasn’t able to replicate that pace in the afternoon but still finished a solid fifth, just a tenth of a second behind his teammate, who ended the day in second.

Despite this, the seven-time world champion appeared more comfortable with the car in both sessions. Read his post FP2 comments here.