Lewis Hamilton’s drop-off in single-lap performance is of no concern to Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur ahead of the seven-time F1 World Champions’ arrival at Maranello.

Hamilton is leaving Mercedes this winter after 12 years with the Brackley-based squad, to make a dream move to Ferrari to create a superstar pairing alongside Charles Leclerc.

Fred Vasseur: It’s on Sunday that points are scored

Hamilton’s final year at Mercedes saw him struggle to unlock the full potential of the W15 on a regular basis, particularly in qualifying – George Russell winning the qualifying battle 19-5 over the 24-race calendar.

It led Hamilton to lament during the Qatar GP weekend about his struggles, with the seven-time F1 World Champion saying, “I’m just slow, same every weekend. Car felt relatively decent, no issues, and not really much more to say.”

Put to him that it’s not a “you thing”, Hamilton couldn’t offer much by way of resistance as he said, “Who knows? I’m definitely not fast anymore.”

It’s often said by retired drivers that the first sign of a driver losing his edge is in qualifying performance – while performances in the race might be perfectly fine, the driver is starting from a lower grid position and thus compromising their final result.

Hamiltons’ F1 2024 struggles aren’t of any concern to Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur, however, who said the Saturday performances aren’t particularly relevant to him as the all-important points-scoring is done on race day.

“Yeah but, first of all, we are well placed to know that it’s on Sunday that you are scoring points,” he told Sky Sports News at a Ferrari Christmas event.

“But I think we fell a little bit in 2023 also, because we were probably the best in quali, but we struggled in the race.

“It means that we have to keep the focus on the race, a decent step forward in ’24 but we have to keep this approach.

“Charles and so, I think, improved a lot on the race management, tyre management between 2023 and ’24, it means that we have to keep the same momentum and the same approach for the next championship.”

Asked whether Hamilton’s performances are a non-issue for him, Vasseur shook his head – his stance unchanged from when he spoke to the media in Qatar.

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At the preceding race, in Las Vegas, Hamilton had a difficult qualifying and started from 10th on the grid – but produced a stellar race to finish second and just behind race winner Russell.

It’s in these performances that Vasseur says it’s clear there’s nothing to worry about, as he was asked about whether he feels any concern over Hamilton’s downbeat comments about his own speed.

“Not at all,” the Ferrari boss said. “Have a look at the 50 laps that he did in Vegas.

“Starting P10, finishing on the gearbox of Russell, I’m not worried at all.”

With Vasseur having secured the signature of Hamilton in what could prove a huge coup for the Scuderia, his optimism isn’t shared by former Jordan F1 team boss Eddie Jordan.

The Irishman, who recently revealed that he is battling serious illness following an aggressive cancer diagnosis, told the Formula For Success podcast that Hamilton’s self-doubt means he’s already on the downward path.

“If you don’t believe 100 percent, you’re f**ked. Do you understand that?” Jordan said.

“Because belief, 99.9 percent, means that there is that tiny, little, little thing in there knocking on your head that gives you the things that maybe, ‘Oh, I don’t really have that confidence. I don’t really have the ability’.

“And at the moment what I heard from Lewis, I’m not fast enough anymore, they were the words, I think.

“Honestly, if I was Ferrari, I would say close the book, find the way out. That’s it.”

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