Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur says convincing seven-time world champion to join 'wasn't difficult' | F1 news

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur says it was “not difficult at all” to convince Lewis Hamilton to join the team from 2025 and not to worry about the seven-time champion's troubled qualifying form during his final season at Mercedes.

Vasseur also said the prospect of a competitive teammate duel between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc would ultimately be good for the team as they chase a return to world title glory.

The Frenchman was speaking at Ferrari's headquarters in Maranello during the traditional Christmas lunch with the media, just weeks before Hamilton officially joined the team in a transfer first revealed in February.

While the moment for the blockbuster switch ultimately came out of the blue, Vasseur – Hamilton's former junior team boss in the mid-2000s – admitted it was ultimately a no-brainer to get the 39-year-old to sign.

“In 2023, we won more races than Mercedes, and the start of the season was good, so it was not difficult to convince him that Ferrari would be a good project,” said Vasseur.

“And I think he had the project to drive for Ferrari in his mind for at least 22 years or 23 years, because we talked about it in 2004.

“That meant it wasn't too difficult.

“I think that sometimes it is a matter of coincidence, or that all the planets align, that he is on the market and that Ferrari has a free seat and so on.

“But the contact was easy. We started talking a year ago and it wasn't hard to convince him.”

Vasseur is 'never, never, never worried' about Hamilton's form

While the Briton will arrive at the Italian team as the most successful driver in F1 history, Hamilton – who turns 40 on January 7 – has seen an unusually poor qualifying run in his final year at Mercedes.

Hamilton even suggested at the penultimate round of the season in Qatar that he was “definitely not fast anymore” after qualifying seventh for the Sprint, with team-mate George Russell on the front row.

But when asked what he made of such comments, Vasseur pointed to Hamilton's charge from 16th in the standings to fourth at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as evidence of his new driver's undiminished pace.

“Ask Russell a question on Sunday,” Vasseur said of Hamilton passing his team-mate on the final lap of the season.

“I think he had a difficult moment in terms of quality, but I also don't think the quality of Abu Dhabi, for example, was related to the performance of Lewis.

“He had very good races in Vegas and Abu Dhabi. And I've never – really, never, never, never – been worried about this situation. This situation, and I'm not criticizing Lewis or Mercedes, but this situation is not easy and I can understand that if it's not going very well, you can suffer in this relationship.

“He wasn't very well in his mind, but he was clear about this in Brazil, for example. But he's also done very well in the last few events, so I'm not worried at all.”

'Leclerc and Hamilton have a huge mutual respect'

Since taking over at Ferrari at the start of 2023, Vasseur has been clear about implementing an approach where neither Leclerc nor team-mate Carlos Sainz has been a priority.

The Frenchman insists he will look to maintain the same balance with his new driving pair, insisting the competitive battle between Leclerc and Sainz is a major factor in the team's overall progress.

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports NewsVasseur said: “I prefer to fight for one-two than 19-20, that's for sure!

“I think that's part of the performance as well. Obviously for the last two years I've let them race on the track and it's been for the benefit of the team because this kind of emulation we've created is part of the recovery when we've had tough times.

“They (Leclerc and Sainz) had a lot of respect between them.”

Hamilton and Leclerc have shared a respectful relationship since the Monegasque joined the game in 2018, and Vasseur is confident he can continue at Ferrari.

He added: “Charles-Lewis, I'm not particularly worried about this. They have a lot of mutual respect, they know each other, they've been talking about it for months.”

When will Hamilton drive a Ferrari for the first time?

Although Hamilton will not be able to drive Ferrari's 2025 challenger until pre-season testing in Bahrain on February 26-28, there is plenty of interest in when the Briton will take to the track in the older car.

Vasseur said the unpredictable winter weather at Ferrari's private Fiorano track meant he could not give an exact date, but that what he expected to be an “emotional” first outing in red for Hamilton would take place at some point in January.

“Probably yes, but we depend on the weather, it's not easy in January,” said Vasseur.

“The truth is it's quite emotional because I think he's had this moment in his mind for probably 20 years. That means he's going to be emotional – but he's got to be emotional for one lap and then be focused!”

Vasseur said Ferrari did not plan to organize any special media events to introduce Hamilton as a Ferrari driver, with the team boss considering the official launch of the F1 season on February 18 and Ferrari's launch a day later sufficient.

“We'll have the first test days with TPC (Testing Previous Cars) and Pirelli, then the launch of the championship first (at the O2) on the 18th. (February), then the car launch on the 19th and then we go straight to Bahrain and it's going to be a tough run to Melbourne.

“But the truth is that it's a short preparation because we have about four weeks in the factory before the first event, but it is what it is.”

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