Look higher than Vasseur for Ferrari’s shortcomings – Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says it would be detrimental for Ferrari to replace team principal Fred Vasseur and that “there’s people above” that should also come under scrutiny.

Ferrari issued a media statement on Tuesday that backed Vasseur and said “nothing has changed” in terms of his position, amid speculation over his future. That focus appeared to be heightened by comments made by former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner that Ferrari is the only team he would be interested in working for without a shareholding, but Hamilton says any criticism of the job Vasseur has been doing is misplaced.

“I think it’s good that they did it,” Hamilton told F1 TV of Ferrari’s statement. “In terms of how it unifies the team, I think we already were unified. Honestly, I think it’s outside sources seem to be so negative towards us as a team and trying to break our spirit, but they’re not succeeding. People can continue with the negative narrative but inside, everyone is working really hard.

“Fred is the guy to lead us – he's doing a fantastic job. If you look at the history, how many people they've swapped out in that role, I feel like it’s in a better place than it’s been before, but ultimately, it’s not a one-man situation. It’s lots and lots of people coming together and if you want to point fingers, point them somewhere else.There’s people above that are also part of it as well. It’s a lot of people.

“I feel like we should take things away from this message – Fred’s in his position, he’s not going anywhere and I’m here to stay with him and I still believe fully in where we’re going.”

Hamilton says a change would set the team back rather than improve matters, as he feels the foundations for future success have been set by Vasseur and need to be built on.

“I’m happy with my treatment,” he said. “Fred has been fantastic working with me and I think our relationship as a whole, even with the bosses, is in a much better place than it ever was.

“Of course, people making comments have absolutely no clue what they’re talking about ultimately, because they’re not inside the team. What’s happening inside the team, how it’s structured, what the weaknesses are, obviously I’m in the team and I know all those. I’m not going to speak on them but I will continue to try and work with those people that are in power to make the changes.

“Making changes is not a quick thing; people weren’t always willing to do so early on but Fred has done a lot of the changes that I’ve asked for and there are more for us to do.

“It’s not an easy time for Fred and so I think it's good the team came out with something this week. Not that it really changes much but it at least gives him a little more confidence. I’ve also just let him know I support him 100%, I wouldn’t be here without Fred. Swapping him out and putting [someone else in] … it won’t change how the team is moving forward. If anything it will be detrimental.

“I think consistency with Fred, he knows the team, he’s helped the team build I think we’ve had the best car this year. Unfortunately we’ve been down four tenths every weekend on power and that’s just something difficult to overcome but we’re working on that for next year.”