Vasseur warns Hamilton over structural change call: 'It's a mistake to point fingers'
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Henry Eccles is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs, and features across the F1 calendar. Since joining in 2026, he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has said "it would be a mistake to finger point" following Lewis Hamilton's questioning over whether a structural change is needed at the Scuderia.
Coming into the Bahrain GP in Malaysia weekend, amid increasing speculation over Vasseur's Ferrari future, Hamilton offered his support for the Frenchman, who he called a "fantastic leader," but in reference to his former Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, suggested changes above Vasseur are needed.
Speaking on Thursday, Hamilton said: "There is a structure that has been there for some time and whether or not that needs looking at moving forwards? There are obviously also people above Fred and it is not about one person."
Hamilton later added: "There are changes I would make but I am not going to talk about what those are. Toto is in a different position to Fred. The structure is a lot different.”
Ferrari, led by Executive Chair John Elkann and CEO Benedetto Vigna, also issued a statement expressing "full confidence" in Vasseur prior to the Bahrain GP weekend. The Scuderia say the team's position's is "clear and has not changed."
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The statement added: "We had confidence in Fred Vasseur and his team, and we continue to do so. At this moment, it is essential that the team remains united and cohesive, focusing all its energy on the work ahead."
Vasseur responds to Hamilton's structural change call
Photo: Race Pictures
After addressing Ferrari statement earlier on during Friday's team principal press conference, Vasseur's attention shifted to Hamilton's comments regarding the team's structure, with the 58-year-old initially saying recruitment is a 'non-ending' story.
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Vasseur said: "First, about the structure of the team. I think, as Flavio [Briatore] said before, that into the recruitment, at least, it's a non end story. It means that you have to improve. I think it's the DNA of what we are doing, to not take a success as a final situation, but to try to improve in the good and the bad moments.
"And honestly, it's the dynamic that we have, that we recruited a lot, but [it's the same] as the other teams and we are trying to push the limit of everything."
More specifically on Hamilton's calls for a structural change, Vasseur warned the seven-time world champion that it would be "a mistake" to start pointing fingers, and risk jeopardising what the Frenchman calls a "unified" Scuderia.
"On the comment of Lewis, I think it would be a mistake to finger point someone or something or whatever," Vasseur said. "In the good moment, we are winning as a team. In the bad moment, we are suffering as a team.
"And I don't want to speak about a single individual or whatever, but honestly, I think it would be a huge mistake to start to not be unified, that we had a good beginning of the season. For sure, it's not enough, we want to get more, we want to win more, we want to win the championship.
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"But at the end of the day, we had a positive start. We are struggling the last couple of races and but we are hoping to come back soon with development and to be back into the pace."
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F1-stand 2026
Season
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | MercedesMER | 302 | |
2 | MercedesMER | 236 | |
3 | FerrariFER | 199 | |
4 | McLarenMCL | 186 | |
5 | FerrariFER | 179 | |
6 | Red Bull RacingRBR | 163 | |
7 | McLarenMCL | 120 | |
8 | Red Bull RacingRBR | 86 | |
9 | Racing BullsRCB | 59 | |
10 | AlpineALP | 41 |
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