Lewis Hamilton will be getting sick of one word Fred Vasseur keeps repeating in Ferrari interviews

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Lewis Hamilton will have his first taste of racing for Ferrari in Italy this weekend. The Scuderia will come under added pressure from the Tifosi at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

While September’s race in Monza will be the main event, this is still a significant stop on the calendar for Fred Vasseur’s squad. Ferrari have only scored one podium in the first six rounds.

Hamilton expected to be Ferrari’s ‘saviour’ when he joined, according to one ex-F1 driver. They were on the verge of becoming champions last year (just 14 points behind McLaren), and the Briton hoped to end their drought.

But that can already be almost ruled out. The gap to the Woking outfit, who scored a one-two in Miami, has already stretched beyond 150 points.

Ferrari have been the fourth-fastest team so far, with both drivers resorting to set-up experiments to try and unlock the SF-25’s performance. For Hamilton, there are uncomfortable parallels with his final years at Mercedes, who have had a notoriously peaky car in the ground-effect era.

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur keeps talking about Ferrari’s ‘potential’

According to a report from AutoRacer, team principal Vasseur is using the word ‘potential’ in ‘practically every interview’ right now. The numbers he’s seeing in the factory continue to give him confidence.

Hamilton took pole and won the Sprint in China, while Leclerc also showed impressive race pace in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. On that basis, Ferrari engineers resist the notion of curbing development in favour of the 2026 regulation changes.

Their superstar signing will surely be getting sick of hearing Vasseur talk in hypotheticals. He’s interested in tangible performance on track.

• READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur from net worth to height

And as AutoRacer note, the alleged potential ‘cannot be exploited yet’. The team don’t expect to significantly raise their ceiling in the short term either.

Hamilton has looked dejected at times this season, so he clearly doesn’t share the team’s optimism. Perhaps, in his mind, it’s necessary to take a brutally honest approach.

What people close to Lewis Hamilton are saying about Charles Leclerc battle

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Sky Sport Italia commentator Carlo Vanzini made a similar observation. On and off camera, Vasseur is ‘convinced’ that Ferrari will flourish once they establish their car’s optimal working window.

Vanzini said: “He has to keep everyone’s spirits up and say, ‘No, come on, there’s still potential, we haven’t found the potential yet’. [Is that] potential to win or finish ahead of Mercedes and Red Bull? We have to understand.

“He is convinced of it, beyond the interviews. When he speaks to us, he is really convinced that there is something to unlock in this car to make a splash. They have not yet reached the point of being able to use it at that peak. The window is a hair’s breadth for them.”

Ferrari had to raise their car after the Chinese GP, when Hamilton was disqualified for excessive wear on the underfloor plank. They were forced to sacrifice downforce to meet the regulations.

Hamilton isn’t concerned with beating Leclerc right now, according to those close to him. He wouldn’t derive much satisfaction from turning the tide if it only meant finishing P5.