Vasseur understands Hamilton’s frustration after the Hungarian Grand Prix
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has expressed his full understanding of Lewis Hamilton’s frustration during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, after the seven-time champion showed signs of discouragement following Sunday’s race. After qualifying in twelfth position on Saturday, Hamilton stated he felt “useless” and suggested that Ferrari “probably needs to change drivers,” while his teammate, Charles Leclerc, secured pole position. After finishing the race on Sunday in 12th place, Hamilton stated that he still felt “the same” as the day before. When asked if he had a plan to motivate Hamilton during the summer break and improve his performance, Vasseur replied that such a conversation would not be necessary.
“They are in the performance and sometimes make comments, even when they jump out of the car. I can understand the frustration, but we are all frustrated. Sometimes, if they ask me, I can’t say this, I would have to go to the stewards [for swearing]!” added Vasseur. “But sometimes, right after the race or qualifying, you’re very disappointed and the first reaction is harsh. But we all know we’re pushing in the same direction.” Vasseur insists that the difference between Leclerc and Hamilton was not as big as it seemed in qualifying, as Hamilton was only 0.015 seconds away from passing to the next round and joining Leclerc. Ferrari’s boss believes Hamilton’s frustration stems from his high expectations of competing at the front. “He is demanding. But I think that’s also why he’s a seven-time world champion, he’s demanding of the team, of the car, of the engineers, of the mechanics, of me too. But, above all, he is very demanding of himself.” “It has always been a good motivation for him. The main reason for his performance. Sure, when you are a seven-time world champion and your teammate is in pole position and you are out in Q2, it’s tough; it’s a difficult situation.” “But we can also take a deep look, he was ahead of Charles in Q1, in the first set; he was a tenth in Q2. We are not far from having both cars out in Q2.” “And the result of this is that Charles was able to get the pole position in the end, but no… Honestly, the difference wasn’t 1.2 seconds yesterday.” “But I can understand Lewis’s frustration. This is normal.”I can perfectly understand the situation. Sometimes comments are made about what the driver says in the car, but if the microphone were put on other athletes in soccer, I’m not sure it would be much better.
Fred Vasseur
