Vasseur admits Ferrari misjudged Hamilton as Mexico drama deepens

Fred Vasseur has admitted that Ferrari underestimated how hard it would be for Lewis Hamilton to join a team that worked in a completely different way.

The Ferrari team principal gave the self-critical assessment in an interview published on Wednesday, while Maranello was still dealing with the fallout from the Hamilton-Leclerc clash in Mexico.

The interview was an Italian exclusive for Automoto.it, and Corriere dello Sport also ran the comments.

Since Mexico, most of Vasseur’s public remarks have been aimed at his drivers, as in our earlier report Vasseur rejects Leclerc’s Mexico explanation: ‘It can’t be an excuse at all’.

This time he turned the spotlight on Ferrari itself.

Vasseur said Hamilton’s difficulties were about far more than learning a new car.

“I admit that we underestimated the challenge he faced in joining a completely different team,” he said.

“It’s not just a question of language or software.

The steering wheel and the nomenclature are different too.

“There are so many things to digest that you end up leaving something on the table in terms of performance.

When the field is this close, that can make a substantial difference in terms of position.”

The Frenchman then compared Hamilton with the driver he replaced.

“Lewis had spent a decade in the same team.

A driver like Carlos is used to changing teams: in ten years in F1, he has raced for five teams,” Vasseur explained, referring to Carlos Sainz.

Vasseur was more positive about Charles Leclerc.

According to Automoto.it, he described adapting to the 2026 cars as a big challenge for everyone, Leclerc included.

“After the difficult period between Miami and Barcelona, Charles made a good recovery,” he said.

He added that drivers had spent twenty years knowing they had to get on the throttle early, and suddenly that was no longer the case.

The engine was the other big admission.

“We knew for years that we were behind the competition in terms of the engine, and that the first year of the new regulations would be difficult,” Vasseur said.

He also told the outlet that, looking back, he would have done pra

Meanwhile, the Mexico City Grand Prix aftermath has brought a separate layer of tension.

The dispute erupted during the opening lap at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Charles Leclerc initially attempted to overtake Hamilton at the first chicane.

When that failed, he tried another move at turn four, with both drivers running wide.

That allowed Max Verstappen to snatch P2 from Hamilton.

Leclerc was subsequently hit with a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

A potential one-two evaporated, and Verstappen won the race.

Leclerc had a ‘face like thunder’ in Ferrari’s hospitality afterwards but tried to downplay the incident in the media.

Hamilton was originally tight-lipped on Leclerc’s move but wound up criticising his ‘do or die mentality’ and suggesting he hadn’t put the team first.

The clash had echoes of the start at Monza, where Hamilton was the driver on the attack and ended up in the gravel due to Leclerc’s ruthless defending.

After that race, the seven-time world champion called for ‘rules of engagement’ at Ferrari, just as he had at Mercedes.

Then-chief strategist James Vowles wrote Mercedes’ rules, which set out the ‘base fundamentals’.

Fred Vasseur has resisted the need for similar measures at Ferrari thus far.

Vasseur feels he should be able to trust two vastly experienced drivers to race one another respectfully, and is wary that written protocols would be open to interpretation.

But clearly, this management style hasn’t had the expected results.