Fred Vasseur has explained why Ferrari did not box Lewis Hamilton before George Russell following his first stint charge at the F1 Italian GP. The seven-time World Champion finished P6 from 10th on the grid.
Off the start, he quickly cleared Kimi Antonelli and Yuki Tsunoda to run in P8. Overtakes on Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto later in the stint moved him up to P6 early doors. The hunt for P5 was on against his former teammate.
Fred Vasseur on why Ferrari kept Lewis Hamilton out for so long in the F1 Italian GP
Sitting 1.5s behind car #63 at the end of lap 26 during the medium stint, many would have expected Lewis Hamilton in before George Russell as an undercut looked possible. It was a constant gap after car #44 had overtaken the Brazilian driver.
However, Mercedes brought their lead driver in at the end of lap 27. Ferrari did not respond for 11 laps. By the time Hamilton had his new hard tyres on, he was 7 seconds behind Russell. Any chance of P5 was gone.
Questioned in his print media session if Hamilton’s pace dropped off as the first stint went on and whether he should have pitted sooner, Vasseur conceded the deg was lower than anticipated in the F1 Italian GP.
Reflecting on it, he admitted pitting the 105-time race winner sooner could have been a better option.
“No, it’s not that the pace dropped. I think we were able to come back on Russell at the end of the first stint.
“Then we took a bet to extend and try to have a tyre advantage at the end, but the deg was too low and it didn’t work. But I think it was the best way to try to overtake Russell on track.
“Perhaps if I had to do it again, I would have pit Lewis a bit earlier, but I think it was the best option to try something different.”
Fred Vasseur believes Lewis Hamilton turned a corner at the Dutch GP
Although he was still beaten in qualifying at Zandvoort (0.050s) and Monza (0.117s) by Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton has been closer to his Monegasque teammate compared to the brutal weekends he suffered at Spa and in Hungary.
Speaking in Zandvoort, the British driver outlined some changes he made without going into details. While he crashed out in the Netherlands with a very rare unforced error, progress looks to be happening.
Alongside that, Vasseur felt he took a lot of energy from events in Milan earlier in the week as Hamilton competed in red for the first time at Monza.
“Honestly, I think this started in Zandvoort last week.
“It’s difficult to say because the outcome of the weekend was not positive for him. But at the end of the day, the pace was better from the beginning compared to Charles. The mood was better.
“During the race, he was fighting with Russell until lap 30. That means that he was back in a better position.
“And I think the energy that he received from the Tifosi Wednesday, Thursday in Milan was something very special for him.
“It was something mega and I think this gave him an extra boost all over the weekend.”
Fred Vasseur is confident Lewis Hamilton will be on the podium after F1 Italian GP comeback
Starting P10 on Sunday, a podium was never on the cards for Lewis Hamilton barring some kind of wild race. It did not happen.
Monza marked round 16 of the 2025 F1 season. Remarkably, Lewis Hamilton has yet to finish on a Grand Prix podium this year. He has 202 across his career to date.
Vasseur remains confident his driver will be on the rostrum before the year is out.
“Yeah, because he was able to fight with Russell in Zandvoort.
“He come back from P10 to the gearbox of Russell today.
“Russell was a couple of times on the podium [this season]. Yes, we can expect him to be on the podium.”
