Why praise from Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc would ‘destroy’ Fred Vasseur

Fred Vasseur has said the last thing he wants to hear from Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc is that Ferrari is doing a good job.

The team boss of Ferrari said his and his drivers’ “DNA” is to find ways to continuously improve, after a difficult season in 2025.

Fred Vasseur would be ‘destroyed’ to hear Ferrari doing a good job

After a strong 2024 season, Ferrari’s development direction for the SF-25 saw the Scuderia fall off the boil as a frontrunner, coinciding with the high-profile arrival of Lewis Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton went on to have a very tough season, although it started well with a victory in the Sprint race in China. From there, however, the highlights were few and far between, and momentum appeared to go the wrong way for the seven-time F1 World Champion as he was knocked out in Q1 in the last three qualifying sessions of the year.

Much was made during the year of a reveal from Hamilton that he was lodging documentation with Ferrari with suggestions of how to improve and refine its processes, with the British driver able to call upon his experience of over a decade with the Mercedes team, a tenure during which he won six Drivers’ Championships.

Ferrari’s year ended with increased scrutiny on Hamilton’s tough campaign, particularly following comments from Ferrari chairman John Elkann in which he urged the drivers to “talk less” and “concentrate on driving”, a pointed message that appeared to take aim at Hamilton’s transparency with the media.

But Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur has downplayed any concerns about Hamilton heading into 2026, saying he has welcomed any and all feedback from his drivers.

“I would be destroyed if I had the drivers telling me that we are doing a good job,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com, after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

“The summary of the season for a driver is to find where we can improve, always.

“Not there to hear we are doing a good job on this, this, and this.

“Their DNA, and my DNA, is to try to put the team to do a better job. Charles and Lewis, they have to come to us and put the team on the limit everywhere, in every single area.

“For sure, we can improve, and we can improve everywhere. But last year, we were fighting until the last corner, and the reaction was exactly the same.

“Charles [said], ‘Okay, guys, we have to improve on every single area, the simulator, the setup, the aero… this is the DNA of their job and the DNA for sport.”

Such feedback and the urging for Ferrari to improve isn’t unusual, Vasseur explained, who said he specifically requests his drivers to make such an effort in the never-ending quest for additional performance.

“I’m not shocked at all when they are coming to me saying, ‘Fred, we have to improve on this, ‘ because it’s what we are asking them to do,” he said.

“When I saw some articles that we had reports from the drivers asking for modifications. On this, you [the media] are a bit naive, because we have reports from the drivers every single race.

“There is nothing magical, but the driver is sending a report to the team to say, ‘Okay, we have to do this. ‘ It’s their life.

“And, in the same way, we are trying to push them to the limit, to push them on the driving and so on.”

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With F1 2026 representing a completely fresh start for driver and team as the regulations move away from ground-effect, Ferrari’s head of track engineering, Matteo Togninalli, believes the relationship between Hamilton and Ferrari is much stronger than it may appear externally.

“I’m sure you are all aware, but for the driver changing team, mainly for a driver like Lewis, who spent 10 years in the same team, has a certain level of experience…” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com, in Qatar.

“It is very difficult for both sides, for the driver and for the team, because every team is operating in a slightly different way.

“You are used to certain people. You are used to doing things in a certain way.

“Then, if you put this in context, Lewis was fighting for world championships, and it’s a fact this year, we didn’t achieve the target of fighting for the world championship.

“So you put the frustration in this, creating the situation.

“I think what you see from the outside is much worse than what it is.

“I think the relationship with Lewis, what we are building with Lewis, is extremely positive.”

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