Fred Vasseur highlights Lewis Hamilton issue: ‘It only makes things worse’

Lewis Hamilton’s approach to his F1 media duties does not help things, according to Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes the “extreme” way Lewis Hamilton conducts himself with the media “only makes things worse” when he or the team are struggling for performance.

The seven-time F1 drivers’ champion drew considerable attention at the recent Hungarian Grand Prix for self-flagellating remarks he made to the press, in which he labelled himself “absolutely useless” and suggested the Italian team needed a new driver.

Addressing those kinds of comments from the British driver and his disappointing start to life at the Scuderia, his boss feels the “self-critical” Hamilton is “too hard” on both the SF-25 and himself.

Although he has been comprehensively beaten in his head-to-head record with Charles Leclerc over the first 14 rounds of his Ferrari tenure, liver-naive-lewis-hamilton-admission-after-underestimating-challenge” target=”_blank”>Vasseur insists the deficit is not as large as the two drivers’ respective results suggest.

Despite Hamilton having yet to score a grand prix podium for the Prancing Horse, whilst his team-mate has racked up five this campaign, the Frenchman maintains that the 40-year-old’s current performance shortfall is no cause for concern.

“Stay calm,” Vasseur told Auto, Motor und Sport when asked how Ferrari can help make Hamilton feel comfortable in his new surroundings

“Build on the fact that he has already taken the first step. Don’t let things like what happened in Budapest get you down.

“Lewis is very self-critical. He is always extreme in his reactions. Sometimes he is too hard on the car, sometimes on himself.

“He wants to get the most out of himself and everyone in the team. You have to calm him down and explain to him that in Q2 he was only a tenth of a second behind the driver who later took pole position. That’s no big deal.”

However, the 56-year-old did acknowledge that those same extreme reactions, when played out initially to the press, can cause problems and proliferate negative narratives surrounding the Maranello-based squad.

“The message he sends out only makes things worse,” Vasseur said. “Most of the time, he’s only that extreme with the press.

“By the time he comes into the briefing room, he’s usually calmed down again. That’s just his way. For me, it’s no big deal. He demands a lot. From others, but also from himself. I can live with that.”

He concluded his point by comparing it to how Nico Hulkenberg operated when the German raced for Vasseur before both reached F1.

“Nico Hülkenberg was the same when he drove for me in Formula 3,” he added. “He demanded an awful lot from the team. But he was also there every morning at 6.30 a.m.”