‘Let’s calm down’: Vasseur reacts to Hamilton’s Vegas gloom

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has moved to cool the rising anxiety surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s bleak post-race comments in Las Vegas.

The Frenchman urged fans and media to “calm down” as the seven-time world champion described his weekend as yielding “zero” positives and branded his campaign the “worst season ever.”

Hamilton’s Ferrari debut year has spiralled into frustration: still without a podium, buried in sixth in the standings and now 74 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Alas, Saturday’s race only deepened the gloom. Starting from the back after a disastrous wet qualifying, Hamilton clawed his way to 10th at the flag – and later eighth after the McLaren disqualifications – but appeared emotionally drained and unusually defeated afterward.

Vasseur insists the situation is not as catastrophic as Hamilton’s tone suggested.

Vasseur: ‘We just have to calm down’

The Ferrari boss said he understood Hamilton’s outburst but warned that neither the team nor the public should overreact.

“I can understand the reaction from Lewis just after the race but we just have to calm down, to discuss and to be focused on the next two, because the next two we will be back,” Vasseur said, referencing the remaining rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

He reminded observers that Hamilton had looked strong only 48 hours earlier before qualifying derailed the entire weekend.

“Keep in mind also that Lewis was there in FP1 and in FP2 the pace was good and we have to build up the weekend like this, and for sure to start from P20 is not the best way to have good results.”

First Emotions in the TV Pen

Vasseur suggested that Hamilton’s raw tone reflected timing rather than truth. Drivers, he argued, are shoved into media interviews before they can process anything.

“TV pen five minutes after the race when you have a tough race, it's very harsh for them,” he said. “I can perfectly understand the adrenaline, the emotion and to have a comment a bit harsh at this stage of the weekend.

“I prefer to have drivers being very open at the end of the race when we didn't do the perfect job, when the car was not good, to say ‘ok I'm frustrated’ than someone going to the TV pen saying ‘you know guys the team is perfect, the car is good blah blah blah’.”

Vasseur emphasised that emotional honesty is better than robotic positivity – yet also fleeting.

“In this case you would be upset but you can't blame them in any circumstances, and I think it's quite normal as humans sometimes on the radio or just after the session to be a bit, not upset, but to be a bit on the emotion.”

• Read also: Hamilton admits Vegas fight back offers ‘zero’ consolation

What matters, he stressed, is not what Hamilton says while still sweating in parc fermé.

“Now the most important is not what they say in the TV pen, it's what they do on the Monday morning with the team to try to do better and to try to push the team to do better – this is more the job of the drivers than [interviews in] the TV pen,” the Scuderia chief added.

Ferrari now faces a critical challenge: protecting Hamilton’s confidence before his frustrations metastasise, yet refusing to let panic infect a team already under intense pressure.

Vasseur’s message is clear – breathe, reset, regroup – before the season’s final two battles arrive.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook