vasseur-cota-ferrari-jpg
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur - Photo: Race Pictures
F1 News

Vasseur: "would be destroyed" if drivers praised Ferrari in 2025

15:25, 10 Dec
0 Comments
Ferrari was forced to endure an extremely difficult 2025 season, with both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton appearing frustrated throughout the year. Ferrari Team Principal, Frédéric Vasseur, has addressed comments made by both Ferrari drivers.
"I would be destroyed if I had the drivers telling me that we are doing a good job."
- Frédéric Vasseur
Both Hamilton and Leclerc endured a rough 2025 campaign with Ferrari. For Leclerc, it was another season with the Scuderia which proved to be one of his toughest with the squad, and for Hamilton, it was a tough start to his career with Ferrari, as the Brit didn't score a single podium throughout the season for the first time ever in his career.
The pair of them have frequently appeared downbeat in the media pen during a race weekend, especially Hamilton, who faced multiple Q1 exits towards the end of the year.
Ferrari Team Principal, Frédéric Vasseur, was asked about how the drivers are feeling. The Frenchman responded: "I would be destroyed if I had the drivers telling me that we are doing a good job. The summary of the season for a driver is to find where we can improve. Their DNA and my DNA is to try and push the team to do a better job."
Vasseur continued: "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."
This comes after rumours that Lewis Hamilton wasn't being listened to by Ferrari, with ex-F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya stating: "The faster Ferrari’s team and engineers listen to Hamilton on how to make the car better, the better it will be for the team in the long term."
hamilton-leclerc-ferrari-baku-jpg
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc driving during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Photo: Race Pictures
Vasseur added: "I'm not shocked at all when they are coming to me and say, 'Fred we have to do this, this, this and this' because it's what we are asking them to do. There is nothing magic when the driver is sending a report to the team to say, 'Okay we have to do this and this', it's their life."
Asked about comments made by Hamilton, who claimed he was feeling an 'unbearable amount of anger and rage', Vasseur stated: "I don't pay attention to the reaction in the TV pen, honestly, or the reaction that sometimes they {the drivers} have on the microphone, in the car, on the radio."
Vasseur added: "In the TV pen, they are jumping out of the car five minutes after the session. You are asking them questions, that I can understand that the guy is a bit emotional and he wants to go back to the engineering office and discuss with the engineer to understand why. Honestly, the most important thing for me, is to have a guy coming back to us and pushing the team to do a better job and to work altogether to try to get better results."
Speaking about Leclerc's comments on Ferrari and the SF-25's performance, Vasseur said: "Charles, there's always a bit of criticism with him, with himself first, and with the team. But it's always a positive dynamic, I've known Charles for 15 or 16 years, and he was always like this. I accept this perfectly."

GPblog's latest F1 Paddock Update

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.
loading

Loading