Fred Vasseur has insisted that he remains “2,000 per cent behind” Lewis Hamilton despite the seven-time World Champion’s troubled start to the F1 2025 season with Ferrari.

And he has argued that it is “f***ing bull***t” to suggest that Hamilton’s form has declined dramatically in recent times.

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur leaps to Lewis Hamilton’s defence

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Hamilton has had a largely lacklustre start to his Ferrari career following his blockbuster move from Mercedes last winter.

The seven-time World Champion took an early victory for Ferrari in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, but Hamilton’s joy soon turned to disappointment when he was disqualified from the main race 24 hours later.

Hamilton has failed to finish higher than fifth on a Sunday for Ferrari across the first five rounds of the new season, with the 40-year-old finishing the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix a distant seventh, 30.969 seconds behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who scooped the team’s first podium of F1 2025 with third place.

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Hamilton cut a downbeat figure over the weekend in Jeddah, quipping after Saturday’s qualifying session that he requires “a brain transplant” in order to gel with the SF-25 car.

He added: “I’ve just got to keep on taking a deep breath. I know that the fans aren’t happy. I’m sure the team are not happy. I know the bosses are not happy. And I’m not happy with my results.”

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after the race, Hamilton predicted a “painful” F1 2025 season with “no fix” to his current woes.

Vasseur is known to have a healthy relationship with Hamilton, having overseen the driver’s title-winning GP2 (now F2) season as the boss of the ART Grand Prix team in 2006.

The Frenchman is also believed to have played an instrumental role in convincing the seven-time World Champion to leave Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of 2024.

Vasseur has insisted that Hamilton retains his full support, pointing to the flashes of “potential” in China and Bahrain over recent weeks.

He told media including PlanetF1.com on Sunday in Jeddah: “I will be 2,000 per cent behind him.

“I will give him support and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons and to work on it early in the morning.

“But honestly, I am not too worried.

“If you have a look on what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week, or even on the first part of the session in this weekend, the potential is there for sure.

“We just have to adjust the balance because we are, collectively, Lewis and us, we are struggling with the balance of his car and [how] he is working the tyres.

“It’s a kind of negative spot but I think the potential of the car is there and we will try to solve that.”

Vassuer took issue to the suggestion by a reporter that Hamilton’s form has dropped off dramatically, snapping: “It’s not dramatically.

“We did five races so far. I know that you want to have the big headlines tomorrow that ‘Fred said this.’

“But this is f***ing bull***t. At the end of the day, we are in competition. You have ups and downs.

“When we have ups, we are not World Champions. When we have downs, we are not nowhere. It’s just a competition.

“I’m not sure that you draw the same conclusion with Max [Verstappen] last week when he was seventh [in Bahrain].

“It is like it is. The competition is tight.

“You have 10 cars and a couple of tenths. Have a look at Max. He won in Japan. He finished 30 seconds behind [Oscar] Piastri in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia he was P2 and had pole position.

“We just have to stay calm. You can do whatever you want. I don’t want to worry for you. At least for us as a team, we have to work step by step.

“I think it paid off last year to do hundredths of seconds and hundredths of seconds and we need to keep the same approach.

“I will never be the guy who says we are World Champions or we are nowhere.

“We are a team. We are struggling on the weekend, we have good results on the weekend.

“It’s just that we have to improve step by step and stay calm.”

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Hamilton has spoken extensively about the challenges of adapting to a new team after 12 full seasons with previous employers Mercedes, with his switch to Ferrari marking only the second team switch of his illustrious career.

Vasseur has denied that F1 2025 is turning out to be a “transitional” year for Hamilton as he bids to get up to speed at Ferrari.

And he is encouraged that the seven-time World Champion is so downbeat with his current situation, claiming that “it wouldn’t be normal” if he was satisfied with his performance level.

Vasseur said: “It’s not a transitional time, but for sure he’s down because when you finish the race in sixth [sic] your team-mate is on the podium.

“Honestly, I take it as positive that Lewis is down, because if he was happy with this it wouldn’t be normal.

“He’s a racer, he’s a competitor. He wants to get the best from what he has and for sure he’s disappointed.

“Now we have to work together to react together. It will be the only way to move forward.”

Hamilton revealed in the immediate aftermath of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that he has been forced to “cancel some plans” this week as he attempts to get to the bottom of his struggles.

The 40-year-old, who recently bought a house in the fashionable Porta Nuova area of Milan, is expected to visit Ferrari’s Maranello factory this week ahead of the next race in Miami on May 4.

Leclerc also confirmed that he will be at the factory on Tuesday and Wednesday to help Ferrari kickstart their season.

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