Frederic Vasseur cools Lewis Hamilton title hype after…

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur reckons it was too early to tout Lewis Hamilton as a Formula 1 title contender for 2025 following his victory in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race.

The seven-time world champion won the Saturday race from pole in March on what was only his second competitive appearance for Ferrari.

But he has since struggled, being disqualified from the grand prix in Shanghai for a technical infringement before only finishing seventh in Japan and fifth in Bahrain last weekend.

Vasseur was asked if there was anything the team could do to help Hamilton get up to speed with his new squad, having joined from Mercedes over the winter.

He said ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian GP: “Lewis is coming with his own experience, with 20 years of F1 with different teams, with almost 10 years at McLaren, 12 years at Mercedes, and it's always good to have someone joining the team with this kind of experience, with this kind of vision, and to help us to improve.

“It doesn't matter if it's Lewis, Charles [Leclerc, his team-mate] or Carlos [Sainz, who Hamilton replaced] last year, we are always trying to do the best for the drivers and to find a good balance for the car for him and we are pushing on both cars exactly in the same way.

Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari (Photo by: Peter Fox - Getty Images)

“I think you [media] were all a bit enthusiastic on the Saturday evening in China, speaking about the [FIA end of season] prize-giving ceremony and so we have to calm down a little bit.

“We have a new car, it's not the carry-over of the car of last year and probably that we are struggling a bit more to find the right balance and the right set-up.

“But this is the life of every single team on the grid, you know that sometimes for a matter of one tenth you can feel that the balance is not a good one at all or not that bad.

“The very positive point is that we are working as a team, that the two drivers are pushing in the same direction.”

Vasseur was also asked if he felt Ferrari had all the ingredients to be successful and he pointed out that the competitiveness of the grid is making his life more difficult.

He added: “The ingredients are all there, but now it's like cooking. You have to put the ingredients together at the right stage.

“Honestly, I don't have the feeling that we expect the best from the car so far, but I would say that it's true for us, but it's true also for the others.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images)

“Even [championship leaders] McLaren, with the step that they have compared to the rest of the grid, sometimes you have one of the cars which is struggling a bit more.

“A couple of years ago, you were able to go to Q1 with a set of medium tyres and you did one lap and you were in Q2. Today, even the top teams, we have to put some time on a set of softs.

“It means that the field is very, very tight, and each time that you make a mistake, you can lose five, six positions. Then, the conclusion from the outside is that it's a drama.

“We are more focused on pure performance, it means that we need to stay calm and do the analysis if we want to improve.

“It was one of the skills of the team last year to be able to capitalise and I hope that we'll have the same pace this year.”