Ferrari Urges Calm After Lewis Hamilton's 'Meaningless' Vegas GP Comments

Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur has called for calm following Lewis Hamilton's strong remarks after a challenging Las Vegas Grand Prix, where the seven-time champion described his race as "meaningless." Hamilton's frustration stemmed from starting P19 and struggling with race pace, despite eventually being promoted to eighth place after post-race penalties.

Why it matters:

Hamilton's candid post-race assessment highlights the mounting pressure within Mercedes as they battle Ferrari for second place in the Constructors' Championship. Such comments from a driver of Hamilton's stature, while fueled by adrenaline, can signal deeper underlying issues or frustrations within the team and impact morale.

The Details:

• Challenging Qualifying: Hamilton qualified slowest for the first time in his F1 career, starting P19 due to a grid penalty. This immediately set the tone for a difficult race.
• Race Progress: Despite chaotic early laps where he gained positions on hard tires, Hamilton found himself stuck behind Esteban Ocon's Haas. His progress further stalled on medium tires, finishing 10th on track, 8.2 seconds behind Nico Hulkenberg.
• Post-Race Promotion: Although he initially finished 10th, Hamilton was promoted to eighth after both McLaren drivers received penalties, earning him three additional points.
• Vasseur's Response: Fred Vasseur emphasized that initial comments made right after exiting the car are often "a bit too much" and urged a more measured discussion after a full debriefing.
• Recent Struggles: Vasseur acknowledged that recent weekends have been mathematically challenging for Hamilton, citing a DNF in Brazil, a penalty in Mexico, and the poor qualifying in Las Vegas. However, he also noted that in terms of "pure performance," Mexico and Austin were strong weekends for Hamilton.
• Focus on Consistency: Vasseur stressed that the team's primary issue isn't always pure performance, but rather the failure to consistently execute clean weekends without penalties, incidents, or qualifying mishaps.

Between the lines:

Vasseur's call for calm suggests a strategy to manage internal and external perceptions while addressing the core issues. While Hamilton's frustration is understandable given his competitive drive and recent string of difficult races, Vasseur aims to prevent these immediate, emotional reactions from overshadowing the underlying performance potential shown in earlier parts of some weekends. This indicates a desire to keep the team focused and prevent panic, emphasizing that the raw pace is there, but execution needs improvement.

What's next:

Vasseur emphasized the need to "calm down and be focused on the next two races." The team will undoubtedly analyze the weekend's data to understand the performance drop-off, particularly with the medium tires. The focus will be on ensuring a "clean weekend" from start to finish to maximize results and consolidate their championship standing against Ferrari in the final races of the season.