F1 News: Lewis Hamilton issues bold Fred Vasseur statement as pressure increases on Ferrari boss

Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton issues bold Fred Vasseur statement as pressure increases on Ferrari boss

He's all in!

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Friday 2 October 2026 08:58

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Lewis Hamilton has come out strongly in defence of his Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur, amid speculation about the Frenchman's future.

Those unsubtle public overtures from Christian Horner in the team's direction last week turbocharged talk about the already under-pressure Scuderia boss' position, as the team left Baku without a podium for the fifth grand prix in a row.

Ferrari even took the unusual step of organising a short-notice media call on Tuesday to insist that Vasseur's job is safe despite rumours that his job is on the line, with Hamilton now stepping up again on Thursday to underline the team's message.

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What Hamilton didn't do, though, was let the team off the hook entirely - admitting that there are changes that he would make to the long-standing structure of the team.

F1 HEADLINES: Christian Horner in Ferrari U-turn as Lewis Hamilton reveals fight with bosses

Hamilton WOULD make Ferrari changes...but not Vasseur

“Structure, I think, is very important, and definitely stability, ultimately having everyone rowing in the same direction is key, probably in any business,” Hamilton said, as quoted by The Times on Thursday.

“I think Fred has the full backing [of the team].

“You’d have to ask him [Vasseur] what [Ferrari’s public backing] does for him. I don’t know how much it changes it.

"There often seems to be a lot of focus on one individual in one role always here, and you can see they’ve obviously switched out lots of different people in Fred’s role, but Fred is a fantastic leader. He really is the guy to take this team in the right direction.”

He added: “However, there is a structure that’s been there for some time, whether or not that needs looking at moving forwards...there are also people above Fred, and it’s not about one person.”

Asked directly whether the team's structure was a problem, referencing his old boss Toto Wolff's status as part-owner, team principal and CEO of his team, the Brit said: “There are changes that I would make, but I’m not going to talk about what those are. Toto’s in a different position to Fred, and the structure is a lot different...so that’s all I can say.”

Hamilton pleased by Ferrari defence of Vasseur

Asked by media by his reaction to the team's defence of Vasseur, he said: "I think it's good that they did it. In terms of how it unifies the team, I think we already were unified.

"Honestly, outside sources seem to be so negative towards us as a team and be trying to break our spirit but they are not succeeding.

"So people can continue with the negative narrative but inside everyone is working really hard. Fred is the guy to lead us. He's doing a fantastic job.

"If you look at the history how many people they're swapping out that role and I feel like it's in a better place than it's been before, but ultimately it's not a one-man situation.

"It's lots and lots of people coming together and if you want to point fingers, point it somewhere else.There's people above that are also are a part of it as well. It's a lot of people.

"I feel like if you take things away from this message, Fred is in his position, he's not going anywhere and I'm here to stay with him and I still believe fully in where we're going."

Hamilton, Vasseur and Ferrari return to the track on Friday with the first two practice sessions at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which takes place this year at Sepang in Malaysia due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

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Chris Deeley - Editor

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