Hamilton Backs Vasseur But Questions Structure Above Him as Ferrari's Power Deficit Bites

A vote of confidence, with a caveat

At the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, held at Sepang in Malaysia, Lewis Hamilton backed Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur while simultaneously raising questions about the layers of management above him. The comments came as Ferrari's season continues to slide, with Mercedes now leading the constructors' championship by 160 points and Hamilton himself having dropped out of second place in the drivers' standings.

Ferrari's communications chief Maria Conti had said beforehand that the team has "confidence, full confidence, in Fred Vasseur." Hamilton echoed that sentiment but added nuance of his own: "Structure I think is very important and definitely stability. I think Fred has the full backing." He went further, though: "There is a structure that's been there for some time, whether or not that needs looking at moving forwards. There are obviously also people above Fred."

An engine problem, not a car problem

Hamilton was direct about where he sees the real issue. He said Ferrari is giving up "a full tenth deficit, if not sometimes six tenths" in straight-line power compared to its rivals, and attributed the gap purely to the power unit rather than the chassis or team execution.

When pressed on what he would change about Ferrari's management, Hamilton confirmed there are specific changes he has in mind, though he declined to spell them out publicly.

Pressure from outside, too

Hamilton also pushed back on what he described as unfair outside negativity and media coverage of the team's struggles. The scrutiny has clearly been felt elsewhere in the garage: teammate Charles Leclerc reportedly deleted social media apps from his phone the same day, amid what the same report called "silly" rumors swirling around Vasseur's position.

With the championship gap widening and a power unit deficit Hamilton says is baked into the car, Ferrari's season looks unlikely to turn around purely through driver performance or team management alone.