Hamilton backs Vasseur amid painful 5-race podium drought

Lewis Hamilton backs Vasseur as Ferrari’s team principal, but the seven-time world champion said Thursday, Oct. 1, at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia that the team’s problems go beyond one man.

Hamilton spoke ahead of Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, which F1 moved to Malaysia because of instability in the Middle East. Fred Vasseur has faced mounting pressure as Ferrari has gone five races without a podium, according to Sky Sports.

Speculation about his future grew after former Red Bull boss Christian Horner called the Ferrari job “the dream” in an interview with The Times. Horner has said Ferrari is the only team he would return to F1 for without an ownership stake, Sky Sports reported.

“Fred is the guy to lead us – he’s doing a fantastic job,” Hamilton said, according to Racer. “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.”

Why Hamilton backs Vasseur but questions Ferrari’s hierarchy

Even as Hamilton backs Vasseur, he separated that support from broader concerns about the management structure at Maranello. Vasseur reports to CEO Benedetto Vigna and executive chairman John Elkann.

“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,” Hamilton said. “There’s people above that are also part of it as well.”

“Fred is a fantastic leader. He really is the guy to take this team in the right direction,” he added, according to GPblog. “There are also people above Fred, and it’s not about one person.”

Hamilton also pointed to a structure “that’s been there for some time, whether or not that needs looking at moving forward,” Motorsport Week reported.

When pressed on what he would change, Hamilton declined to give specifics. He did note the difference between Vasseur’s role and that of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who is also a co-owner of his team.

“There are changes that I would make, but I’m not going to talk about what those are,” Hamilton said. “Toto’s in a different position to Fred.”

Vasseur’s frustration and Ferrari’s response

Vasseur vented his own frustration after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday, Sept. 26, where Charles Leclerc finished fourth and Hamilton sixth. He said about half of the questions he faced in Baku were about his job status.

“We are not working in perfect serenity,” Vasseur said, according to Sky Sports. He also took a shot at Horner: “Mr Horner is looking for a job. Everybody knows, everywhere.”

Ferrari later issued a statement expressing “full confidence” in Vasseur, who took over as team principal in 2023. Vasseur said he would stay focused on the final seven races of the season, with Ferrari fighting to hold second place in the standings.

The performance gap and what comes next

Ferrari sits second in the constructors’ championship with 378 points, 160 behind leader Mercedes, according to the post-Baku standings. Hamilton backs Vasseur on that front, too, putting much of the gap on the power unit rather than on leadership.

“The deficit we have is simply just on engine. We don’t shy away from it,” Hamilton said, according to GPblog. “Fred has helped make changes in this past year. He’s helped us get to second in the Constructors’ Championship. That’s a huge step from last year.”

Hamilton also said Vasseur has already made changes the driver requested since his arrival from Mercedes before the 2025 season. The two first worked together in the junior categories in 2005 and 2006.

“I’m happy with my treatment. 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,” Hamilton said, according to Racer. “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.”

For more on Hamilton’s season, see how he credited a major preparation change for his breakthrough in Canada.

Reporting from Sky Sports, Racer, GPblog and Motorsport Week contributed to this story.