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Fred Vasseur has downplayed growing concerns over Lewis Hamilton's form after a challenging weekend at the Saudi Arabian GP. While expressing confidence in Hamilton's potential, he outlined his plans to help the Briton bounce back.
Last Sunday, Hamilton rued a potential step back in his fifth start for the prancing horse. After a top-five finish in Bahrain, the Ferrari driver placed four spots adrift of his teammate at Jeddah, finishing seventh.
During the post-race interviews, Hamilton admitted to feeling uncertain about the reasons behind his lack of pace with the SF-25. Meanwhile, Vasseur backed the seven-time world champion and presented his plans to make a turnaround.
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"I will be 2000% behind him and I will give him support here, and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons and to work on it early in the morning," he said via Formula1.com.
Vasseur also pointed out Hamilton's promising stints early in the season as a cause for his optimism.
"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 season except in this weekend, the potential is there for sure," he added.
Lewis Hamilton previously took the top step at the sprint race in Shanghai. The result marked his second outing with the Italian team, along with his first pole with the SF-25. That said, his second-best finish of sixth place in the main race was nullified after a post-race inspection revealed a rule breach.
Next up, Hamilton heads to the Miami Grand Prix, looking to break his track record of three consecutive sixth-place finishes since the event's inception in 2022.
Fred Vasseur sees positive in Lewis Hamilton's downbeat demeanor post Saudi Arabian GP
After finishing 30 seconds behind his teammate at Jeddah, Lewis Hamilton cut a despondent look in the post-race interviews. Reactions followed from all corners of the sport, with some expressing that it's tough to watch him in such a downcast mood.
Addressing the same, Vasseur acknowledged Hamilton's frustration but viewed it as a positive sign, saying, via the aforementioned source:
"For sure he's down because when you finish the race in sixth, seventh and your team mate is on the podium, honestly I take it as positive that Lewis is down, because if he was happy with this it wouldn't be normal."
Charles Leclerc continued his streak of top-five finishes with a podium spot at Jeddah, placing him fifth in the Drivers' standings with 47 points. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton failed to gain any ground from his seventh-place spot. Notably, his Mercedes replacement, Kimi Antonelli, is placed one spot above him with a lead of seven points.
