Ferrari F1 boss plays down significance of “mega” Lewis Hamilton win

Ferrari Formula 1 team boss Fred Vasseur has heaped praise on Lewis Hamilton after his Barcelona win, but has moved to keep expectations in check.

The seven-time world champion scored his first grand prix victory with Ferrari last Sunday at Catalunya.

The win has led a number of his rivals to peg him and Ferrari as title contenders, owing to the Scuderia’s ever-improving package.

But Vasseur was keen to stay grounded despite the obvious excitement around the Barcelona win.

“Nothing changed today compared to last week,” he said.

“The result is different. The outcome of the race is different.

“The commitment of the guys in the garage in Maranello from Lewis, from Charles [Leclerc], didn't change compared to last week. And we have to stay calm with this.

“It's not that today everything is magic, and last week it was not.

“But I think we are into the collaboration. We are improving, but we know each other, or Ferrari, Lewis, we know each other a bit more each day. And it's all a matter of details at the end of the day.

“I think one tenth yesterday in Q2, you had six or seven cars.

“It means that it's sometimes small details that will make a huge difference in terms of position.

“And you saw today that track position is very important. As soon as you are not in clean air, you are struggling.”

He added: “I'm taking it as a mega good result, mega positive result, good reward for everybody, for Lewis, for the team in Maranello, for the team on track, but it's not that the situation is completely different compared to last week, and we'll have to start exactly with the same approach in Austria than what we had on Friday.”

At times last year Lewis Hamilton admitted that he was lost and expressed doubts in his own ability amid a tough first season with Ferrari.

Vasseur insisted that he couldn’t take any personal credit for encouraging Hamilton’s turnaround in fortunes, instead praising his “resilience”.

“I have zero merit on this,” he said when asked by Crash.net about Hamilton’s turnaround and his role in it.

“It's more Lewis himself, I think. He was able to come back after tough, tough moments.

“He was able to come back to do a full reset, and to continue to push, to continue to come to the factory on the Tuesday morning.

“And this commitment, it's a huge support, and coming from a world champion, it's even more, I would say, and it was also a huge motivation for everybody at the factory.”

Expanding on the theme, he emphasised Hamilton’s role in pushing the team forward.

“It's a lot about resilience,” he said. “Because I think he had to face tough moments, but his last season at Mercedes was not an easy one.

“The beginning with us was not always easy. He had tough moments, Spa and Budapest last year, that's where he was a bit down and struggling to build up the relationship with the team, or to understand each other.

“But he was able to keep the same energy into the project, to continue to push each Tuesday at the factory, and this is clearly part of the results.

“The fact that the two drivers are fully committed, supportive with us in any situation, we can have discussion when we are doing mistakes, we have discussion between us, but the fact that they are fully behind us and pushing us, it's key for the future.”

When asked, Vasseur downplayed the role of Hamilton’s race engineer Carlo Santi, on the basis that he doesn’t want to put the spotlight on individuals in good or bad times.

“I don't want to put Carlo in front or whatever, but I think it's a huge effort from everybody,” he said.

“Carlo is part of the process, and the fit between Carlo and Lewis is a good one, but we have to react as a group in the good and the bad moment.

“And when it's a bad moment, I'm trying to protect the team and to take the blame for myself, and today I don't want to put a department or someone in front, but if we are getting results, it's because that collectively we are doing a good job.”