Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has opened up about Lewis Hamilton’s difficult F1 Las Vegas GP weekend that saw the seven-time world champion struggle to a points finish after qualifying in last place.
Hamilton found himself dead last after clocking the slowest time in a rain-hit Q1 on Friday. He not only qualified slowest on outright pace for the first time in his F1 career but also became the first Ferrari driver to qualify in last place since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2009 Abu Dhabi GP.
Lining up in P19 under the lights at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Hamilton utilised the hard tyres well and gained six places on the opening lap. While Alex Albon clipping the rear of the Ferrari on Lap 13 didn’t jeopardise his race, the 40-year-old couldn’t make any significant headway in his second stint on the mediums.
Hamilton crossed the line in P10, nearly a minute behind race winner Max Verstappen. However, the double disqualification of the McLaren drivers ultimately promoted him to eighth place.
Vasseur downplays Hamilton’s emotional outburst
Speaking in a print media session after the F1 race, Fred Vasseur addressed Lewis Hamilton’s pessimistic comments regarding his disappointing performance at the Las Vegas GP.
In terms of Hamilton being unable to take away any positives from the weekend, Vasseur noted that the poor qualifying had placed the Ferrari driver on the back foot on Saturday.
Although he acknowledged Hamilton’s struggles on the yellow-walled tyres, the Frenchman also highlighted how the 40-year-old had shown strong pace in the opening stint of the 50-lap race. Insisting that emotions run high after exiting the cockpit, he additionally attempted to downplay the gravity of the Brit’s rather defeatist statements.
“I think the main issue is yesterday, when you start from P20 [P19 with Yuki Tsunoda’s pit lane start]. For sure the race is difficult, but at the end of the day I think he had a decent first part of the race.
“We struggled a little bit more with the medium, but let’s calm down. To jump out of the car and to make the first comment, it’s always a bit too much. Let’s discuss after the debrief.”
Underscoring the promising pace he exhibited during the practice sessions, Vasseur was quite understanding of Hamilton’s post-race despair and maintained that they have to calm down and bounce back before the final two rounds.
“I can understand the reaction from Lewis [Hamilton] just after the race but we just have to calm down, to discuss, and to focus on the next two, because the next two we will be back.
“Keep in mind also that Lewis was there in FP1 and in FP2 the pace was good and we have to build up the weekend like this, and for sure to start from P20 is not the best way to have good results.”
Ferrari progressed overall despite dropping the ball in recent weekends
In reference to Lewis Hamilton confessing that he was eager for the year to end after his poor showing at the Las Vegas GP, Fred Vasseur admitted that the last couple of race weekends were quite challenging for the seven-time F1 champion so far as the scoreboard is concerned.
Singling out Hamilton’s overall performances in Austin and Mexico City as the best of his ongoing campaign, Vasseur also attributed their drop from second to fourth in the championship standings to the team failing to put the race weekends together. Nonetheless, he also noted the step forward Ferrari have taken in terms of pure performance in the latter half of the season.
“It’s true that on the mathematical side the last couple of weekends were very difficult with Brazil DNFs and Mexico penalty. But overall I think Mexico, Austin was probably also the best weekend of Lewis in terms of pure performance.
“Now it’s true for the team also and we didn’t put everything together the last two or three weekends and it’s why on the mathematical side and on the championship we did a huge step down. But in terms of pure performance, I think we are not in so bad shape compared to the mid-season.”
Necessity of putting together clean weekends
Asked what the Italian outfit can do to help Lewis Hamilton turn things around, Fred Vasseur stated in a media session after the Las Vegas GP that it’s not necessary to adopt a radical approach. Explaining how they are not lacking in terms of pure performance, the Ferrari team boss asserted that they simply have to put together incident-free weekends to deliver strong results.
“Today it’s difficult. But if you have a look at the last couple of races that we are speaking about, Mexico, it’s a matter of penalty that he [Hamilton] wasn’t able to be on the podium.
“I don’t think that we have to change completely. It’s a matter more to put everything together and I think we are struggling to have a clean weekend; it’s either the penalty or contact with Colapinto or the quali yesterday.
“It’s not pure performance, not only pure performance. For sure we have to improve on performance, this is clear, but it’s more the way you build up the weekend.”
Vasseur understands and appreciates the drivers’ honest reactions
Fred Vasseur also believes Lewis Hamilton’s post-Las Vegas GP remarks have been exaggerated by the fact that drivers almost instantaneously head to their media interviews following a track session and that they don’t have a chance to calm down.
“You know perfectly the system. TV pen five minutes after the race when you have a tough race, it’s very harsh for them.
“I can perfectly understand the adrenaline, the emotion, and to have a comment a bit harsh at this stage of the weekend.”
With regard to whether he would prefer the Ferrari drivers to communicate their grievances behind closed doors, Vasseur commented that he appreciates the candid reactions after dissatisfying results. Furthermore, he explained that what matters is their attitude in the post-race debriefs and how they work together with the team to overcome the challenges.
“I don’t know if ‘normal’ is the right word but I prefer to have drivers being very open at the end of the race when we didn’t do the perfect job, when the car was not good, to say ‘ok I’m frustrated’ than someone going to the TV pen saying ‘you know guys the team is perfect, the car is good blah blah blah’.
“In this case you would be upset but you can’t blame them in any circumstances. And I think it’s quite normal as humans sometimes on the radio or just after the session to be a bit, not upset, but to be a bit on the emotion.
“Now the most important is not what they say in the TV pen, it’s what they do on Monday morning with the team to try to do better and to try to push the team to do better. This is more the job of the drivers than [interviews in] the TV pen.”
Frustration is normal and a driving force
In terms of whether Lewis Hamilton’s downbeat attitude stems from him falling short of his own expectations and his pride being wounded to a certain extent, Fred Vasseur concurred with the observation.
Noting that neither Hamilton nor Ferrari are pleased with the results they brought home at the F1 Las Vegas GP, Vasseur maintained that they need to channel their frustration into productivity, find their feet again, and push forward to end their season on a high note.
“Yeah. I think you can understand that it’s normal that Lewis is not happy with P10 [P8 after double McLaren DSQs] in Vegas, and Ferrari is not happy with P10 in Vegas, and Ferrari is not happy with P6 [P4 after promotion] in Vegas.
“But now the reaction is to work together, to try to do a better job next week, and it’s the life of the team.
“If you remember that Max [Verstappen] was P9 in Budapest, and it was not the absolute drama. We need to keep this approach, and to come back again and again, and to try to push again and again, and to try to do a better job.
“The frustration is normal. I would be worried if we didn’t have this kind of frustration when we are doing P10.”
