Vasseur puzzled by Hamilton’s China GP slump: “We have to do a better job”

Fred Vassuer has commented on Lewis Hamilton’s struggle during the Chinese Grand Prix after a brilliant weekend in Shanghai up to this point. The seven-time world champion couldn’t find the pace, whereas team-mate Charles Leclerc, even with front-wing damage, was able to finish in P5, one place ahead of the Briton.

Discussing the “strange” disparity in performance between the two drivers, team chief Vasseur has been left questioning Hamilton’s drop in performance after a commanding weekend so far.

“It was a tough day today,” he told Sky Sports F1. “Very strange because that on one side of the garage that with the damage on the front wing, the pace that we had, I think it was encouraging and it was a good one and it was much more difficult for Lewis.”

Saturday’s sprint race hinted at a potential revival for both Hamilton and the Scuderia. He delivered a masterclass in tyre management and, after a strong start alongside Max Verstappen, he built a strong lead and finished the 19-lap race in first.

“He had a very, very good tyre management yesterday and we are struggling much more with the pace today. It’s difficult to understand and to read, but we can also take the positive with the rest of Charles and the pace that he had with the damage on the front wing. “

Starting fifth, Hamilton’s race looked promising as he initially made good progress getting past Verstappen in Turn 1. But before long he was struggling with tyre degradation, amplified by the resurfacing of the Shanghai International Circuit. As his race pace continued to suffer, the pit wall decided to stop him for a 2-stop strategy. 

Despite hitting Hamilton on the first lap, Leclerc showed impressive performance as he pushed his way up the pack, with the Italian team opting to not replace the front wing – a strategy that paid off. 

 “I don’t want to finger point someone or to blame something, but we have to do a better job, and we have to understand we all have the same tyres, but it’s always on the edge,” Vassuer continued. “We saw even during the race that sometimes Max was struggling and then coming back and then struggling and as soon as you are not in the right window it’s much more difficult.”

The Frenchman was further asked to clarify the thinking behind Hamilton’s 2-stop strategy:

“Yeah, because the deg’ at one stage was important and you never know if everybody has to pit it would have make sense.”

The reality, however, was the expected tyre degradation never came to fruition, leaving Hamilton stuck in sixth place without the pace advantage needed to make up positions.