Ferrari F1 chief defends Lewis Hamilton behaviour

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari chief defends Lewis Hamilton behaviour

Hamilton's misery was understandable in 2025

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 27 December 2025 12:52

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Ferrari F1 chief Fred Vasseur has defended Lewis Hamilton's downbeat interviews throughout the 2025 season.

A concoction of Ferrari's poor pace and Hamilton's own inability to adapt to his new team, has resulted in a frustrating season - particularly evident as soon as the champion jumped out of the car and spoke to the media.

Amongst his most memorable interviews, were when Hamilton advocated for his own axe in Hungary, and said: "The team has no problem. The car’s on pole, they probably need to change their driver.”

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Rachel Brookes has indeed had the toughest job of the year, with her Sky Sports colleague Martin Brundle admitting that he dreads when Hamilton enters the media pen now.

Vasseur defends Hamilton interviews

Hamilton signed off the 2025 season with three consecutive Q1 exits, and in Abu Dhabi said over team radio: "Every time, mate. I'm so sorry."

Ferrari team principal Vasseur, however, has defended his driver in the media, and claimed that Hamilton's attitude is completely different behind the scenes.

“I respect perfectly the position of the drivers when they have this attitude. Then the most important for me is also to have someone collaborating with the team," Vasseur explained.

“It's much better to have someone not speaking in the TV pen and coming back to the debriefing, speaking with the engineers, trying to find solutions and it's the attitude that Lewis had even when he had a tough moment in the last part of the season and this is putting a positive energy into the team.

“Now, honestly, and I have exactly the same situation with all of you, that when you are jumping on me and I'm going down to the pit-wall after a tough race and you have tons of questions, sometimes I don't want to spend too much time to answer the questions.”

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Fred Vasseur