Ferrari Formula 1 team boss Fred Vasseur has revealed his rather surprising reaction to Lewis Hamilton’s frustration following his up-and-down weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix last time out. The seven-time world champion has endured a difficult start to life at the Scuderia following his off-season switch from Mercedes, and hasn’t been shy in sharing his disappointment.His fifth-place finish in Sakhir was his best of the season in a grand prix to date as he continues to get to grips with his new machinery. Hamilton cut a dejected figure at several points across last weekend – particularly after delivering a poor performance in qualifying – but Vasseur insists he was happy that the 40-year-old was angered by his own display.
The racing legend appeared unimpressed after qualifying and cut a frustrated figure during his post-race interviews.
Hamilton delivers blunt assessment of Ferrari performance
On the team radio following the conclusion of Saturday’s qualifying, Hamilton said: “I’m sorry guys, sorry man. Really sorry.”
When asked shortly after about what he was apologising for, Hamilton then told Sky F1: “It was about my poor performance.
“No reasons, not doing the job. It happens every Saturday.”
Hamilton’s comments are concerning given the hope he appeared to have pinned on the Scuderia’s upgrades for the fourth race weekend of 2025, with his disappointment over his consistently poor qualifying form with Ferrari reminiscent of his comments at Mercedes last year before he departed the team.
Following sprint qualifying at the 2024 Qatar GP, Hamilton responded to his P7 result by declaring: “[It’s the] same every weekend… I’m definitely not fast anymore.”
In his debut season in red so far, Hamilton has failed to qualify in the top three ahead of a full grand prix race, with his best result P5 in China, which was also a setback given his sprint race victory just hours before in Shanghai.
