Fred Vasseur shares how Lewis Hamilton is helping Charles Leclerc behind the scenes at Ferrari

Follow us on Google Discover

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has never wavered in his decision to bring Lewis Hamilton to the team from Mercedes this season.

When Lewis Hamilton announced he would be joining Ferrari for the 2025 Formula 1 season, it was arguably the biggest driver announcement in the sport’s history.

It meant Carlos Sainz was suddenly out of a job, and Charles Leclerc was about to come up against his toughest teammate so far.

Sebastian Vettel sent Ferrari a warning when discovering Leclerc and Hamilton would be teammates, after the four-time world champion struggled against the Monegasque driver.

Ferrari narrowly missed out on winning the constructors’ championship last year, and the hope was that this season would be when Fred Vasseur’s team finally ended their long wait to win a title.

Unfortunately, the reality has been far more unpleasant for Ferrari, who could mathematically be out of contention to win the championship as soon as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, thanks to McLaren’s dominance.

However, Vasseur has still taken plenty of positives from this campaign, including the relationship between his two drivers.

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

Charles Leclerc has benefited from Lewis Hamilton taking the ‘pressure’ off him at Ferrari

Vasseur was asked on the F1 Nation Podcast if this is the best version of Leclerc he’s seen and whether Hamilton’s presence is helping that, and he said: “Probably, yes.

“I’m clear that this has helped Charles a little bit as well, to release some pressure from Charles, and he did a very good job from the beginning of the season.

“I think Charles has also improved on the approach, on the structure, he’s more mature, and this, I don’t know if a part of the contribution of Lewis, but it’s coming from the maturity of Charles.”

Jacques Villeneuve thinks Leclerc is beginning to realise he’ll never be an F1 world champion, and it’s up to Ferrari to either give him a title-winning car or prevent him from leaving to take up another opportunity elsewhere.

Hamilton taking the pressure away from Leclerc will help, with less media attention on the Monegasque.

However, he’s far harsher on himself than the Italian media, and will know time is beginning to run out for him to dominate Formula 1 like his teammate has in the past.

READ MORE: Best moments of Charles Leclerc’s F1 career including first pole, podium, win, title and more

Fred Vasseur explains what Lewis Hamilton has been so good at since his GP2 days

Vasseur was then asked about what makes Hamilton so special behind the scenes in a team and responded: “Sometimes you ask me in the press conference at the beginning of the season what was the main characteristic of Lewis 20 years ago?

“It was this one, it was the fact that he was able to get the best out of everyone.

“He’s a champion, he’s doing very well, he has the pace, but the other characteristic is to try to get the best from the people around you, an extra motivation, an extra push.

“For sure, this characteristic is there, and my job is also to give him my support to do the best job that he can do.”

There are positives for Ferrari to take this season, even if they’ve not challenged McLaren in the championship or even achieved their first Grand Prix win yet.

They need to take the lessons from their car development this year into F1’s new regulations, in particular, the composition of their rear suspension; otherwise, they risk being left behind again.

Hamilton may have helped take the pressure off Leclerc this season, but he can’t be a lightning rod for all of their issues forever.