Vasseur makes candid admission on Hamilton’s tough start at Ferrari

07:32, 04 Sep

Updated: 09:17, 04 Sep

byTobia Elia

Frederic Vasseur has once again addressed the difficult first season Lewis Hamilton is experiencing at Ferrari, noting the time it is taking the Briton to adapt from a team like Mercedes to a completely different environment in Maranello.

Having arrived in Maranello with sky-high expectations befitting what many saw as an already historic partnership, Lewis Hamilton’s first season at Ferrari has so far proved far more complicated than anticipated.

The seven-time world champion is currently behind Charles Leclerc in the standings and had difficult weekends, but talked about progress in the Netherlands despite his DNF.

With the Italian Grand Prix fast approaching — his first Monza weekend in red —, Hamilton has yet to reach the podium with his new team, with a fourth-place finish at Silverstone standing as his best result so far (excluding his sprint race victory in China).

Lewis Hamilton at Zandvoort

'The expectation was huge'

Appearing on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Frederic Vasseur once again spoke about Lewis Hamilton and a partnership that so far has not delivered the expected results: ''I don't know if we underestimate the importance of the change, probably, because he spent 10 years at McLaren or with McLaren and then 10 or 12 with Mercedes.''

''It was also a kind of continuity, two teams based in the UK with the same engine, with the same environment. It's a complete change for him in his life, to the culture of the team and everything. And this, to do it in three days in the winter period, it's quite difficult.''

Vasseur is aware, however, that the adjustment period clashes with the high expectations placed on Hamilton—something that is not easy to manage: ''The expectation was huge. But we have to put everything in place and it's taking time and we have also to manage expectation and manage the noise around the team.''

He then added: ''We are speaking about details at the end, because the comments are positive or negative for one plus or minus one tenth of seconds, or plus or minus a click of front wing that you did or not, plus or minus something.''

''It's always marginal, and we have to keep in mind this. If we are not able to put everything together, from the preparation of the weekend, adaptation to the simulator, until Sunday, you can miss one tenth day or one tenth day. And this is making a huge difference in terms of pure results.''

After fifteen races, Hamilton sits sixth in the standings with 109 points, compared to his teammate’s 152.

Coming off a costly DNF at the last Grand Prix in Zandvoort, the Briton now has the chance to bounce back at Monza this weekend, with hopes of at least fighting for a podium finish.