Ferrari Chief Reflects On Lewis Hamilton's Last Leg With Mercedes - 'Not Easy To Manage'

Saajan Jogia | Dec 19, 2024

Nov 23, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team driver Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain (44) arrives for the Las Vegas Grand Prix drivers parade at the Las Vegas Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images / Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has reflected on the challenges Lewis Hamilton encountered in the final stages of the 2024 season with Mercedes, where car issues hindered his efforts to finish on a high note. Despite these setbacks, Vasseur praised Hamilton's strong performances in the closing races and expressed complete confidence in his capabilities, insisting that he wasn't worried about his performance considering his move to Ferrari in 2025.

The seven-time world champion faced challenges with the unpredictable performance of his W15 F1 car this season, grappling with grip and pace inconsistencies on certain circuits despite securing victories at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. Frustrations peaked at moments like the Qatar GP, where Hamilton contemplated retiring the car following a drive-through penalty, though Mercedes ultimately convinced him to stay in the race.

Speaking about the challenging phase Hamilton went through, Vasseur made it clear that neither Hamilton nor Mercedes were at fault. He pointed out that the difficulties stemmed from the circumstances themselves, which created a tough situation for everyone involved. He said:

"He had very good races in Vegas, in Abu Dhabi [in 2024] and I was never, really, never, never, never worried about the situation.

"I'm really convinced that it was the situation, and I don't want to blame Lewis or Mercedes, but this situation, it's not easy to manage and I can understand that if it's not going very well, you can suffer of this relationship.

"It was not very well in his mind, that he was clear in Brazil about this, for example, but he also did very, very well on the last couple of events. I'm not worried at all."

The statements from the Ferrari chief arrived days after Hamilton revealed the problems he faced at Mercedes after announcing his Ferrari switch, and challenges with the W15 likely intensified them further. However, the Briton was eventually happy with the way his 12-season journey ended with the Brackley outfit. He said:

“I remember at the beginning of the year when I was printing off the contract and couldn’t believe that it was actually happening.

“It’s been a really, really, really long year. Tough to firstly go with the announcement and then obviously the relationship.

“Lots of turbulence, lots of ups and downs with people that I’ve been working with for many, many years.

“Managing that was really, really, really tough through the whole year. There’s so many people and it’s affected everybody.

“To go through this low, turbulent time and then come back and get to a point here where love just comes through.

“Beyond the upset and people [saying] ‘I can’t imagine you in red’ to now just [saying to me] ‘I wish you all the best, thank you so much for everything we’ve done’ and tears.

“It’s really beautiful. Honestly, I’m forever grateful to this team, every member that’s here, every member back in the factory, it’s been the honour of my life to be a part of it.”

He laughingly added:

“I can’t believe that I’m going to be in red next year. It looks good on me, so hopefully I can make that work.”