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Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur reiterated that he was "2000 percent" behind Lewis Hamilton despite his difficult start to his time with the Italian team. The Frenchman was one of the key influences in getting the British driver to agree to move to Maranello and leave Mercedes, owing to their over two-decade dynamic in the sport.
Under Vasseur's mentorship in 2006, Hamilton won the GP2 title with ART Grand Prix, which was co-founded by the former. Hamilton moved to F1 the following year to join McLaren, but stayed in touch with the Frenchman. Vasseur and Hamilton were frequent spotters in the F1 paddock after the former joined Renault and later Alfa Romeo in the mid-2010s.
The seven-time F1 world champion has found it largely difficult to consistently extract the maximum out of the SF-25 in the first five races despite winning the Sprint race of the season in China.
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Speaking with Sky Sports F1, the Ferrari team principal extended his unwavering support to Lewis Hamilton after the latter finished P7 in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last weekend, saying:
"I will be 2000 per cent behind him. I will give him support, and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons, and to work on it early in the morning. But honestly, I am not too worried.
"If you have a look on what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week or even on the first part of the session in this weekend, the potential is there for sure."
Vasseur had been consistent in his support towards Hamilton ever since he made the move to Ferrari at the beginning of the 2025 season.
Ferrari team boss declines the notion of 2025 being a transitional year for Lewis Hamilton
The Ferrari team principal, Frederic Vasseur, stated that he refuted claims about the 2025 season being a transitional season for Lewis Hamilton, given his lack of experience driving for the Italian team.
As quoted by the aforementioned source, the former Alfa Romeo F1 team boss suggested:
"It's not a transitional time, but for sure he's down because when you finish the race in sixth, your teammate is on the podium. Honestly, I take it as positive that Lewis is down because if he were happy with this, it wouldn't be normal.
"He's a racer, he's a competitor, he wants to get the best from what he has and for sure he's disappointed. Now we have to work together to react together, and it will be the only way to move forward," Vasseur said.
Lewis Hamilton had finished half a second behind his teammate Charles Leclerc in the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying and started the race from P7 compared to the latter's P4. His fortunes did not change in the main as he finished in P7 and over 30 seconds behind the Monegasque driver, who secured Ferrari's first podium of the year.
