Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is expecting Lewis Hamilton to enhance the Scuderia’s mindset as it keeps working towards a first Formula 1 world title since 2008.
Ferrari fought for this year's constructors’ championship with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz until the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where its 21-point deficit on McLaren proved to be too large to overcome as it ended up 14 points away from the crown, vanquished by race winner Lando Norris’ impeccable drive.
This has nonetheless been, in terms of grand prix wins (five) and podium finishes (22), the team’s most successful season since Sebastian Vettel’s bid for the 2018 drivers’ title.
Ferrari has recovered under Vasseur’s leadership since he took over as team principal in January 2023, and the Frenchman is adamant that new hire Hamilton will make a difference when the seven-time world champion replaces Sainz alongside Leclerc next year.
Hamilton spent the last 18 seasons racing for McLaren and Mercedes with both squads based and cultured in Britain and Vasseur believes this different culture will be enriching for the “isolated” Scuderia – one of Formula 1’s three teams mostly based outside England, traditionally featuring a large contingent of Italian engineers and mechanics.
Vasseur claims the Briton’s work ethic will make a difference when it comes to margins as fine as they were this season.
“I am convinced that Lewis will come with his own experience, with the background of 18 years in F1, with a couple of titles and so,” Vasseur said following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
"And it will be a real push to keep this mindset, to try to do a bit better everywhere.
“I perfectly remember with Lewis in 2005-06 that he was already like this, pushing on the small details,” he added, referring to his time leading the ASM/ART outfit in junior single-seaters. Racing for the French team, Hamilton dominated the 2005 F3 Euro Series and the 2006 GP2 Series – F2’s predecessor.
“At the end of the day, if you have a look, I think that on average the delta between McLaren and us in qualifying was a couple of hundredths, and we are really at this stage, also with Red Bull and Mercedes, that we are speaking about details.
“We really need to have this kind of mindset to chase the last one-thousandth in every single area and I think Lewis will be a good asset for this also.”
Hamilton, meanwhile, has made it clear that he does not underestimate the challenge he’s taking up at Maranello.
“Of course it really sparks motivation and it's a dream scenario for any driver to have an opportunity like this,” the future Ferrari driver said on Thursday at Yas Marina. “So, don't take that for granted.
“I realise it's a steep… You know, I remember when I joined Mercedes, and it's not an easy step to ever enter into a new team. And it takes time to build new relationships and learn the tools and everything. Coming into next year with that same focus, that same might that I had when I joined Mercedes and with ultimately that leap of faith, I think is exciting and exhilarating.”
