Vasseur shuts down media’s Hamilton scrutiny: ‘You have to stop!’

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur issued a stern directive to the media last weekend at Imola: questions over Lewis Hamilton’s form are no longer welcome.

After months of relentless scrutiny surrounding Hamilton’s performances since his high-profile switch from Mercedes to Ferrari, Vasseur has lost patience with the done over narrative.

Following the seven-time world champion’s fourth-place finish in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – his strongest result in red so far – Vasseur clashed with a journalist whose questioning again centered on Hamilton’s adaptation.

“You have to stop this,” Vasseur said bluntly, cutting short the reporter’s line of inquiry.

The message was unmistakable: enough is enough. The Frenchman’s tone was firm, his frustration palpable. Hamilton, now 40, has indeed endured a mixed start to life at Ferrari, but Vasseur clearly believes the repetitive post-race interrogation is both unfair and unhelpful.

“It is not that he is doing a good weekend and everything is perfect, and when he is not having a good weekend, it is a disaster,” the Frenchman continued, calling on a sense of perspective on the part of the media.

“We just have to take it easy and stay calm and work together.”

Team First, Not Finger-Pointing

Vasseur’s insistence was not limited to defending Hamilton alone. His comments highlighted the collective effort behind Ferrari’s progress – a point often lost in the media’s laser-focus on one individual.

“I was pleased with the job the team did, not just Lewis, but Charles [Leclerc], the strategy and the mechanics,” he said.

“It is the only way for us to come back and catch up to the front. We have to work as a team and put all the efforts and resources together to catch up.”

The Italian outfit, which has lost significant ground to McLaren and Red Bull since the beginning of the season, cannot afford distractions or fractured narratives.

For Vasseur, every element – from drivers to strategy to mechanical execution – must fire in unison. Singling out Hamilton, particularly when he’s beginning to find form, only undermines that cohesion.

Yet, even after his clear unequivocal directive, another Hamilton-centered question followed. Vasseur’s irritation boiled over.

• Read also: Vasseur sounds alarm on Ferrari qualifying crisis ahead of Monaco

“You have to stop!” he reiterated. “Every single driver is working on himself, working with the team, trying to develop something, trying to do a better job.

“It is not that on a Saturday evening he is not well prepared, not in a good condition with the car, and then on Sunday he is a magician and everything is perfect.
“We just have to stay calm. Obviously, he did a very good job in China, did a very good job at Imola and step-by-step, we will get there."

A Turnaround in Sight?

Hamilton’s measured drive to P4 at Imola, coupled with his prior performance in Shanghai, suggests that his adaptation to Ferrari machinery is gaining momentum, which the Briton himself suggested when he said that was finally feeling “in synergy” with his machine.

While critics continue to ponder his long-term potential in scarlet, Vasseur has drawn a hard boundary around the conversation.

His message to the media was not one of denial but of defiance. The scrutiny may continue, but inside Ferrari, the stance is clear: Hamilton is not under review. He is part of the solution.

And Vasseur won’t entertain questions to the contrary any longer.

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