Ferrari boss quizzed on Lewis Hamilton contribution after ‘difficult’ season
Lewis Hamilton went a full season without a podium finish for the first time in his F1 career
Asked what Lewis Hamilton has brought to Ferrari which has had a positive impact, team boss Fred Vasseur said the “most important” factor for Ferrari as a whole was the “reaction” to setbacks in 2025.
Stating that the 2025 “season was difficult”, Vasseur looked to positives such as Ferrari’s back-to-back podiums via Charles Leclerc in Austin and Mexico. Vasseur stated that Hamilton was “part of the reaction”.
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2025 fell below expectations for Ferrari, with the team failing to win a grand prix. Marquee new signing, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, failed to make the podium.
The downsides have been well documented, so Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was asked what Hamilton has brought to the Scuderia which has had a good impact.
He replied: “The season was difficult. I think it’s a mathematical contestation, not a feeling.
“But the most important is the reaction. The most important is the energy that you are putting in to push the team again and again, to try to understand what the issues are and to fix them – and it’s details by details.
“For sure, we knew that it would be difficult from the first quarter of the season. But at the end of the day, when we had podiums in a row [Austin and Mexico], I think it’s the job of everybody.
“It’s not the job of one driver or one engineer. It’s the job of 1,500 people at the factory, from the two drivers, from all the engineers. Collectively, the reaction was good, and Lewis is part of the reaction, for sure.”
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Ferrari made the call back in April to focus on their F1 2026 challenger, designed to the heavily-revised chassis and engine regulations which have come into effect.
Vasseur again referred to a positive “reaction” from Ferrari, as focus now switches to ensuring that 2026 is a vastly improved year.
Asked whether there are any positives for Ferrari to take from 2025, Vasseur said: “Yes. You have always positives, even in a tough season.
“I think we had a decent recovery in terms of performance. We were back on the podium – Mexico, Austin. I would say São Paulo we were not far away. That means we were on the right way.
“It’s good for the team, at least for the psychological side. You always improve a little bit everywhere, in every single area. It’s the best preparation for 2026.
“But the most important of this call is that we agreed quite early that we would put a maximum of energy on the future. That means then we have to react as a team, even when you have tough weekends, to come back Monday morning at the factory and continue to push and develop and work all together.
“We had a good reaction to tough sessions and tough weekends. Let’s see next year [2026] if we did a good job this season also.”
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