FRED VASSEUR ENCOURAGES HAMILTON-LECLERC CRITICISM DESPITE ELKANN'S 'TALK LESS' DEMAND
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur is unfazed by public criticism from Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, calling their complaints a "positive dynamic" for improvement.
Ferrari's F1 boss, Fred Vasseur, isn't bothered by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton publicly criticizing the team, even though it annoyed John Elkann.
The 2025 season was a letdown for Ferrari. They didn't win any races and dropped to fourth in the championship, losing the 2024 title to McLaren on the last day.
Leclerc and Hamilton, who finished fifth and sixth in the driver standings, often showed their frustration in interviews. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Hamilton said it was a nightmare after a double DNF.
Ferrari chairman Elkann criticized this negativity, saying the drivers need to focus on driving and talk less, which sparked a lot of debate.
But Vasseur doesn't care much about what the drivers say publicly. What matters to him are the conversations behind the scenes.
"I don't care about the reaction on TV," Vasseur said after Ferrari finished fourth and eighth at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
What's most important is having someone come back to us, pushing the team to improve and work together to get better results.
They're emotional sometimes on the radio, and it depends on the person. You all know Charles. He's always a bit critical of himself, the team, and everyone, but it's always in a positive way.
I've known Charles for 10 or 16 years, and he's always been like this. He's always complaining about everything. But it's a positive thing that pushes us to do a better job.
It doesn't matter if we're P4, P3, or P1. Our DNA is to do a better job. I'm okay with this, and the most important thing is that they keep the same approach to the debriefing: to get a better car, a better team, and a better everything. That's how we'll improve.
Vasseur even said he encourages his drivers to criticize the team because that's how Ferrari will get back to the top when the new rules come in next year.
"I'd be upset if the drivers told me we were doing a good job," he added. When a driver sums up the season, it's about finding where we can improve. I don't want drivers telling me, 'We're doing a good job on this, this, and this.'
Their DNA and my DNA is to push the team to do a better job. So, Charles and Lewis need to come to us and push the team to the limit in every area. We can improve everywhere.
Last year, we were fighting until the last corner, and the reaction was the same. Charles said, ‘Okay guys, we have to improve in every area: the simulator, the setup, and the aero.’
This is their job and our sport. I'm not shocked when they come to me and say, 'Fred, we have to improve on this, this, this, this, and this,' because that's what we're asking them to do.
DISCOVER WHY JONATHAN WHEATLEY BELIEVES RED BULL’S STRUGGLES FUEL MAX VERSTAPPEN’S OUTRAGE
Jonathan Wheatley claims Max Verstappen's criticism of the "anti-racing" 2026 regulations reflects Red Bull's early struggles.
Jonathan Wheatley thinks Max Verstappen’s harsh words about Formula 1’s 2026 rules say as much about Red Bull’s current struggles as they do about the new regulations.
Verstappen hasn’t held back at all; he’s been one of the loudest voices against F1’s new energy-harvesting era, calling the rules “anti-racing” during pre-season testing.
Just two races in, Verstappen’s only got eight points. After Shanghai, he walked away without scoring anything. He finished the sprint race in ninth just outside the points, mostly because he lost ground when his car bogged down from a lack of battery power right off the line.
Things didn’t get better in the main race. Verstappen tried to claw his way back, but he had to park his RB22 because of an ERS cooling problem.
He didn’t sugarcoat his feelings. Verstappen slammed the new energy management rules, energy harvesting, and super clipping, all of it, as “fundamentally flawed". He called the racing itself a "joke". For him, the whole thing’s starting to feel more like Mario Kart than real racing.
“I swapped the simulator for my Nintendo Switch and have been practising Mario Kart, actually!” Verstappen joked when someone asked if sim time gives drivers an advantage now. “Honestly, I’m getting good at finding the mushrooms. The blue shell’s a bit tougher, but I’m working on it. No rockets yet, but they’re coming.”
He also warned F1’s leaders that these new rules could “eventually ruin the sport; it’ll come back to bite them.”
Not everyone’s moved by Verstappen’s complaints. Juan Pablo Montoya went as far as telling him, "There's the door.” Guenther Steiner, the former Haas boss, said it came off as nothing more than “toys out of the pram when it doesn’t go his way.”
Meanwhile, things look very different for Charles Leclerc. He’s been fighting for podiums in Australia and China and is loving the new era.
“I really enjoyed it,” Leclerc said. “Yeah, sometimes the overtakes feel a little fake if someone messes up their battery management; you get this huge speed difference. But we’re all learning when to push and when to risk it, and that’s creating some great overtaking spots. Today was a perfect example.”
Wheatley, watching all this, figures opinions on the new rules depend on how well one's doing. If you ask the guys up front, Ferrari and Mercedes, they love the new racing. The teams chasing them? Not so much.
He told reporters after the Chinese Grand Prix, “Talk to the Ferrari drivers; they’ll say it was a brilliant day. If you’re not winning, you just want to be able to race cleanly. Honestly, I didn’t see anything fake; every driver was fighting hard and fair. The midfield battles are fantastic; there’s a lot to like.”
And as for Verstappen’s comments? Wheatley gets it. When you’re struggling, it’s easy to point fingers.
FRED VASSEUR REJECTS TEAM ORDERS AS FERRARI DRIVERS DUEL CLEANLY IN SHANGHAI
Lewis Hamilton secures his first Ferrari podium at the Chinese GP as Fred Vasseur praises his drivers' clean racing.
Fred Vasseur felt pretty good about Ferrari’s performance in the Chinese Grand Prix, especially the way his drivers fought each other so cleanly, even though, as he admitted, it could’ve ended up looking like a disaster.
Ferrari started the race in third and fourth, and, right from the get-go, both drivers didn’t hold back. They actually got ahead of the Mercedes for a bit, but it didn't last; they ended up getting passed again. In those early laps, the two Ferraris were stuck between the Mercedes cars: Kimi Antonelli stretched his lead while George Russell stayed glued to their tails.
Lewis Hamilton led George Russell early on, and those two swapped places a bunch of times. Ferrari’s drivers did, too. There were moments when they went side by side, pushing the absolute limit, without ever making contact. Honestly, they kept at it almost the entire race. The last big move happened on Lap 40. Hamilton passed Leclerc and held onto third place, finally putting a red car on the podium for the first time this year.
Even with all that fighting, both Ferraris came home without a scratch. The drivers both said they had a blast; it was tough, hard racing, but always clean.
Vasseur, who runs the show at Ferrari, was quick to praise them. “Huge respect for both of them,” he told the press. “They’re total pros, and it just made sense to let them race. Sure, sometimes you risk looking stupid if things go wrong, but that’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
He was clear about his philosophy early in the season: you’ve got to let the drivers race. No team orders from the pit wall, just a chance to let them build up the team spirit by pushing each other. “This is how you make real progress,” Vasseur said. “As long as they race like they did today, I won’t freeze the positions. Even on the radio, they were telling us they were having fun.”
Once Hamilton got past Leclerc on Lap 40, the order was set. Hamilton got his first podium for Ferrari, which was huge even if his first season with them had been tough so far. Vasseur wasn’t worried, though.
“It’s so much easier the second year,” Vasseur explained. “He’s been part of the project for a while now; he started working with us as far back as mid-2025, doing simulator runs. He’s got more of a stake in this now compared to when he just turned up last January, and the car was already built. He knows everyone better, and working with the team is just smoother.”
But Vasseur knows Ferrari still has a big gap to Mercedes. The team has shown some solid pace in these first two races, but closing that gap will take time. “We’ve got to keep chipping away with those small gains, that’s how we’ll catch up.”
Right now, Ferrari’s battles out on track aren’t causing any problems. As the season goes on, though, Vasseur’s going to have to keep a lid on any tension because the championship’s heating up. Ferrari trails Mercedes by 31 points, and Leclerc and Hamilton are both chasing Russell for the drivers’ title, sitting 17 and 18 points behind.
If Ferrari’s going to have any shot at beating Mercedes, they’ll need to be on it every step of the way and stay ready to jump if their rivals make a mistake.
