Lewis Hamilton's F1 boss issues staunch defence of Ferrari star over 2025 performance

Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton's boss issues staunch defence of Ferrari F1 star over 2025 performance

Hamilton and Leclerc have struggled greatly with the SF25.

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Monday 29 December 2025 08:13

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Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari F1 boss, Fred Vasseur, has absolved the team’s technical director, Loic Serra, of responsibility for the SF25’s poor form.

Serra was formerly the performance director at Mercedes and is highly rated by Hamilton, with many excited over the pair's chance to reunite at the Scuderia in 2025.

Before the 2024 season had even begun, Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari, with Serra also deciding to make the move to Maranello shortly after.

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But despite arriving in October 2024, Vasseur has reiterated that Serra had almost no input on the design of the SF25, Ferrari's 2025 challenger that both Hamilton and his team-mate Charles Leclerc struggled with immensely.

After Serra and Hamilton had settled in at Mercedes, the duo worked alongside one another during the Silver Arrows dominant years in F1 between 2014 and 2021.

Serra has been credited in the past for his contribution to the team's dominance of the hybrid era that saw Mercedes add seven drivers' titles and eight constructors' championship trophies to their cabinet.

But since taking on the role of head of chassis performance engineering at Ferrari, the Frenchman is yet to prove himself.

Vasseur defends Hamilton ally

As many, including Hamilton, look to the Scuderia to beg them to make a major improvement for 2026, Vasseur has once again shared his dislike of the view that Serra was to blame for Ferrari's car woes this season.

Speaking in a press briefing before Christmas, Vasseur said: " I was a bit upset when, at one point during the season, some media outlets criticized Loic [Serra].

"I think it was somewhat unfair," he continued, as quoted by Auto Hebdo.

"Enrico [Cardile] left the team in June 2024. When Loic arrived, the car was almost entirely designed," Vasseur continued, instead offering hope that 2026 will see the first opportunity for the former Mercedes man to prove his technical abilities.

"Ultimately, next year's car isn't his first 'child.' He's had others before. However, it is his first real project," he clarified, teasing machinery that could perhaps better align with Hamilton's driving style.

F1 Ferrari Fred Vasseur Loïc Serra