Why Ferrari boss ‘likes’ downbeat Lewis Hamilton reaction

Lewis Hamilton has had a difficult start to life at Ferrari

Fred Vasseur “liked” that Lewis Hamilton was a bit down after qualifying in Bahrain, as his disappointment shows he not only wants to do better but is willing to work on improving his own form.

Hamilton had a difficult Saturday at the Bahrain circuit, one that had Martin Brundle declaring these are “troubled times” for the Briton as he adjusts to life at Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari have yet to gel

Having raced a Mercedes Formula 1 car for 12 years, and with Mercedes power for all 18 that he’s been on the Formula 1 grid, Hamilton is finding the adjustment to Ferrari a bit more difficult than those watching on from the outside expected of the seven-time World Champion.

Already trailing Charles Leclerc in the qualifying head-to-head battle, Hamilton went down 3-1 to the Monegasque driver in Bahrain where he was ninth to his team-mate’s P3 and six tenths slower.

“I’m just not doing a good enough job on my side so I’ve just got to keep improving,” a downbeat Hamilton told the media, including PlanetF1.com. “It’s definitely not a good feeling, for sure. I don’t have a lot of answers for you guys, I just wasn’t quick today.”

“The car has improved [with the upgrades], it’s just my driving,” he added to DAZN.

But while Brundle worried that the “sad interviews” reminded him of Hamilton’s final season with Mercedes, Karun Chandhok said Hamilton “sounded completely like he was on the floor”.

The Briton rebounded on the Sunday to race from ninth on the grid to fifth at the chequered flag, one place behind Leclerc.

Vasseur not only liked the Britain’s disappointment at his qualifying but also the manner in which he fought back.

“You won’t replace 12 years of collaboration in two weeks or in two races,” Vasseur insisted after Bahrain. “For sure, we need to improve, but this is true for everybody in the team, in the paddock, that the DNA for our sport is to try to do a better job.

“It’s good to have Lewis with this mindset ‘I have to improve also myself, and to adapt myself to the car’ and we will adapt the car to Lewis, but he had to do a step. This is done in a positive way and a very constructive way between us.

“The fact he was a bit down yesterday evening [after qualifying], I like it. He comes back and says ‘I’m 10th, it’s a shame’, so he was disappointed because he was better in the rest of the weekend.

“In F1 today, if you make a mistake you lose six or seven positions. That was not the case three or four years ago.

“We have to stay calm in terms of judgment of the performance, because sometimes, for almost nothing, you can change a good weekend into a very poor one.

“I appreciated the direction of Lewis on Saturday and I did my best to push him a little bit, and on Sunday he was in very good shape.”

Hamilton was quizzed on his qualifying form after his P5 finish in the Grand Prix and conceded that while it was “worse” than his final season with Mercedes, he’ll keep pushing on until he has a breakthrough.

“Much different car, but, yeah, still worse qualifying this year than I had last year,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com. “Just keep trying, we’ll get there. Get there eventually.”

The Briton is seventh in the Drivers’ Championship with 25 points, 52 behind championship leader Lando Norris.