Ferrari: Fred Vasseur's take on near-miss championship, Lewis Hamilton and 2025 F1 car

Today at 02:57 AM

During the Christmas lunch in Maranello, all attention is on Lewis Hamilton, still absent but nonetheless the main topic of conversation. This is unsurprising given the unprecedented nature of this move in Ferrari and Formula 1 history, on the eve of a season where the Prancing Horse is expected to play a leading role. From the 2025 project to managing the coexistence of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, Frederic Vasseur addressed numerous topics in his final press meeting of the year.

The near-miss championship
The 2024 Formula 1 season saw Ferrari once again contending for the world championship, but the Team Principal is still digesting the disappointment of Abu Dhabi: "I feel conflicted because I believe we made significant progress compared to 2023. We improved in every pillar of competitiveness: reliability was better, strategies were solid, pit stops went well, and performance was there. We scored 60% more points than the previous year, with five wins compared to one. All indicators are positive. The only downside is finishing the season 14 points behind McLaren."

"We didn't lose it in Abu Dhabi. Throughout the season, McLaren averaged 26–27 points per weekend, and we actually outscored them in the final race. What likely hurt us more was the double DNF in Canada or when we struggled between Spain, Austria, and England, losing around 80–90 points in four races. The rivals also had their lows during the season. With four teams in contention, highs and lows are inevitable. But when, out of over 600 points, you find yourself 14 points behind McLaren on the Sunday evening of Abu Dhabi, there's naturally frustration."

Lewis Hamilton's arrival
Fred Vasseur then turned to the major topic of the day, revealing the process behind bringing Sir Lewis to Maranello: "In 2023, we won more races than Mercedes, and the start of the season was positive. It wasn't hard to convince him that Ferrari was a valid project. I think he's had the idea of driving for Ferrari for at least 22–23 years because we were already discussing it in 2024. Sometimes it's a matter of timing and everything aligning, but getting in touch was easy. We started talking a year ago, and convincing him wasn't difficult."

However, the Team Principal has no intention of reorganizing the team around Hamilton: "That environment [at Mercedes] worked very well initially, but less so towards the end. We need to find the best way to manage Lewis. I absolutely don't want to copy and paste or try to bring Mercedes here wholesale. Over the past three years, they haven't won a world championship. That means we need to do things differently, with our team, our people, and our resources."

Fred Vasseur dismissed skepticism about Lewis Hamilton's competitiveness: "Ask George Russell after the Abu Dhabi Sunday. In general, I think Lewis had some difficulties in qualifying, but I don't believe, for instance, that Abu Dhabi was his fault. He had great races in Las Vegas and then in Abu Dhabi itself. I've never been worried. […] I don't want to blame him or Mercedes, but I'm convinced it wasn't an easy situation to manage, and I understand how challenging it can be when things aren't going well. But in the final events, he performed very well, and I'm not worried at all."

Coexistence with Charles Leclerc
In 2025, Fred Vasseur will manage two top-tier drivers, unlike Red Bull, which has focused entirely on Max Verstappen. However, the Frenchman doesn't envy their situation: "For me, the judgment isn't clear-cut. You could say that putting all resources into one car and sacrificing the other slightly is an advantage. On the other hand, I'm convinced part of the performance of two drivers comes from mutual emulation. At least for the Constructors' title, it's much easier to give equal consideration to both cars, but I think even for the Drivers' Championship, this emulation is beneficial."

The Team Principal drew from his experience with Leclerc and Sainz: "I'm convinced that internal competition is crucial for team competitiveness. There were moments of tension between Charles and Carlos, like in Monza in 2023 or Las Vegas in 2024, but in the end, they benefitted the team's performance. […] I'm not particularly concerned about Charles and Lewis. They have great mutual respect and have been discussing this for months. These are pleasant problems to deal with, and I believe the team's competitiveness will also come from their challenge."

Moreover, it would be counterproductive to sacrifice Leclerc, who is becoming increasingly complete: "I think Charles has improved significantly in race management, not just with tires but in his overall weekend approach. Of course, perfection is never reached, and we still need to improve a bit, but I believe he's in better shape now than he was 12 months ago. We still have work to do, but he's on the right path."

Ferrari opens its doors
The Christmas lunch also featured many new faces, particularly Deputy Team Principal Jérôme d'Ambrosio and new Technical Director Loïc Serra. They are the first hires promoted by Fred Vasseur to help Ferrari break free from its isolation in recent years: "In the UK, there are seven teams within a 50-kilometer radius, slightly more for McLaren. If someone wants to move from Red Bull to Mercedes, they can keep their kids in the same school and don't have to sell their house. Aside from gardening leave, you can switch teams almost overnight. This isn't possible for Ferrari."

"It's a situation with pros and cons, but we shouldn't close the door to other teams. Part of performance comes from knowledge transfer and these kinds of exchanges. This has nothing to do with nationality but more with work culture and learning from what others do. We've hired many people from other teams, and more insights will come with Hamilton, who brings experience from Mercedes. This is important for performance. We're fighting for hundredths of a second. Any fraction we can gain from any area is always positive."

Looking ahead to 2025
Another hot topic is the car for the new year, a project Fred Vasseur hopes to call bold: "Sometimes you think you're not taking risks, and later realize just how risky the project was. We're in the fourth year of these regulations and now know the concept well. The car will be completely new and will have less than 1% of the components from the previous one. It will be an entirely different project, but this will be the case for everyone."

To contend for the title, the priority will be scoring significant points even in tough moments: "It's probably easier to win when you're competitive than to score points when you're at the back of the leading pack. I think Max was very effective at this this year. Sometimes he was struggling, but he managed to recover. I think next year will be the same story. The top teams will develop their cars, make progress, and we'll still have a four-way fight."

In this context, Fred Vasseur will ensure the team learns from the experience of the past season: "After the initial doubles, everyone thought Red Bull would win. It was an important lesson: the season is very long and has ups and downs. You might have strong weekends and then drop to seventh or eighth. At certain points in the season, Max was around sixth or seventh. It's a good lesson to keep pushing and developing. […] 2025 will be a challenge because at some point, we'll have to decide whether to stay focused on the season or shift to 2026, which is why starting on the wrong foot would make everything harder. Despite this, we'll keep pushing until the last corner of the last race." – the French manager concluded.

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