Latest news with #FredericVasseur
BBC News
2 days ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
Vasseur 'the person to take Ferrari to top'
Canadian Grand PrixVenue: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal Dates: 13-15 June Race start: 19:00 BST on SundayCoverage: Live commentary of first practice, third practice and qualifying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2, with FP2 on Sports Extra. Race is on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app Lewis Hamilton says that Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur "is the person to take us to the top" amid the team's struggles at the start of this have scored just three podium places in grands prix this year through Charles Leclerc, while Hamilton won the sprint race in Briton, 40, finished sixth at the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago and afterwards said he had "no idea why it was so bad" and that it was his "worst race (for Ferrari), balance-wise."Speaking in Montreal on Thursday before this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, Hamilton said: "I love working with Fred. Fred's the main reason I'm in this team and got the opportunity to be here, which I'm forever grateful for."We're in this together. We're working hard in the background. Things aren't perfect but I am here to work with the team but also with Fred."I want Fred here. I believe he is the person to take us to the top." The seven-time champion described reports in two Italian newspapers that Ferrari were considering replacing Vasseur as "nonsense".Ferrari said they were not worth commenting on."Most people don't know what's going on in the background," Hamilton said. "That's not part of the discussion."He added: "I don't think that's on the cards as far as I'm aware and it's certainly not something I would be supportive of."Embedding new people, whether it's a driver or engineers or people who run an organisation, it takes time to adjust and the impact can be significant. That is not part of the discussion. I am here to win with Fred and he has my full support."I have just started with Ferrari and I am here for several years. There is no question where my head is at and what I am working towards achieving with this team. There are zero doubts."Vasseur joined Ferrari at the beginning of 2023 after chairman John Elkann removed his predecessor Mattia Binotto following a 2022 season that had started well but took a turn for the worse amid poor reliability, operational errors and lack of development compared with Red year, Ferrari came close to winning the constructors' title for the first time since 2008, ending the year just 16 points behind McLaren, and were expecting this season to be a close fight at the McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have won seven of the first nine races, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen is the only other driver to visit the top step of the podium with wins in Japan and has struggled in his first races with the team, and has generally been a little behind is one place and 23 points behind the Monegasque in the drivers' said: "It's been a whirlwind of a year. Everything outside the race track is going amazing, and I am working as hard as I can to make sure that's reflected in the results."We need to bring more performance to the car. We have had one upgrade in Bahrain. Hopefully soon we will have another."The car I am racing right now is not a car I have had input into developing and evolving over the past four years. I am driving a car Charles has been part of developing. It has its challenges but I am enjoying that challenge."
Daily Mirror
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Lewis Hamilton clueless over Spanish GP rule change as rivals all say same thing
The arrival of the Spanish Grand Prix sees a new FIA technical directive come into force which McLaren's rivals hope will slow down the runaway F1 championship leaders Formula 1 drivers do not believe the rule changes coming into force at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix will have a dramatic impact on the balance of power on the grid. That's despite earlier hopes up and down the grid that it might curb the performance advantage that has been enjoyed by McLaren. The Woking-based squad is 172 points clear at the top of the championship, having won six of the eight Grands Prix held so far. But some of their rivals have spent a lot of time in recent weeks accusing them of potentially illegal tricks to gain performance. One of the suggestions is that McLaren have been running wings on their cars which may be more flexible than the rules would allow. Their cars have passed all static FIA tests but that has not quietened the noise. The governing body has acted on the complaints in the form of a technical directive which comes into force this weekend at the Barcelona race. It means cars will have to comply with more strict tests which will force teams to make front wings more rigid. Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox! Some have suggested that it could have a significant impact on some teams. That includes Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur who said in Monaco last weekend that it could be "a game-changer". He said: "We are working on it for ages now. This can be a game-changed for everybody because we don't know the impact on every single team of the new regulation. We will be focused on this to have better exploitation of the front wing." But, asked about it in Barcelona on Thursday, several top drivers all made it clear they don't expect any dramatic performance swings. "There's little tweaks here and there, but nothing that will change how we have to do anything," said Lando Norris, confident he will still have a mighty McLaren to drive. Carlos Sainz concurred, the Williams driver adding: "I wouldn't expect more than a one tenth [of a second] swing up or down through the field for each team, depending on how much you were flexing or not. I don't think there's going to be a lot in it." And Max Verstappen, who would love to see McLaren hampered as he hunts a fifth-straight F1 drivers' title with Red Bull, said: "I think all of the teams will be a little bit impacted, probably some more than others, but it's not going to change the world." As for Ferrari racer Lewis Hamilton, the Brit was not even willing to offer a guess. He said: "I have no idea. Honestly, I have no idea what the directive is going to do. I couldn't guess. I've just been training and trying to get ready for this weekend, nothing special."
