Lewis Hamilton has launched an impassioned defence of Frederic Vasseur as Ferrari's team principal and suggested he would like to instead see other structural changes at the team. Hamilton was speaking two days after Ferrari took the unusual step of arranging a media briefing for journalists in which a spokesperson said the company's management retained "full confidence" in Vasseur's leadership in the wake of growing speculation around the Frenchman's position in the team principal role amid a run of five races without a podium. Speaking ahead of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, Hamilton welcomed Ferrari's public move to silence the recent noise around the team - external criticism and speculation which the Briton said was "trying to break our spirit" but "not succeeding".
"I think it's good that they did it," said Hamilton of Ferrari's support of Vasseur. "In terms of how it unifies the team, I think we were already unified. Honestly outside sources seem to be so negative towards us as a team and be trying to break our spirit but they are not succeeding.
So 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're swapping out that role and 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 it somewhere else. "There's people above that are also are a part of it as well.
I feel like if you take things away from this message, Fred is 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." Former Renault and Sauber chief Vasseur is in his fourth season in charge of the Maranello F1 outfit since replacing Mattia Binotto in the role from 2023. The 58-year-old first worked with Hamilton in what is now F3 and F2 in 2005-2006 before reuniting when the seven-time world champion joined from Mercedes in a blockbuster transfer last year. "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," added Hamilton.
"Of course, people making comments have absolutely no clue what they are talking about ultimately because they are not inside the team. "What's happening in the team or how it's structured, where the weaknesses are, obviously I am in the team and I know all those - I'm not going to speak on them, but I'm going to continue to try and work with those people that are in power to make the changes. "Making changes is not a quick thing, people aren't always willing to do so very early on, but Fred has done a lot of changes I've asked for already and there are more for us to do." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Speaking to the written media, Hamilton added: "Fred is a fantastic leader.
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