Lewis Hamilton begins his Ferrari team-up next year and team principal Frederic Vasseur has explained what he expects to get out of the seven-time F1 champion’s presence.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur hopes Lewis Hamilton’s “personal baggage” can help push the Italians into title contention.
Hamilton rocked Formula 1 with his announcement before this season even began that he was quitting Mercedes to join the famous red team. He will make his Ferrari debut in Australia next March, the Melbourne race temporarily replacing Bahrain as the 2025 curtain-raiser due to a clash with Ramadan.
Signing the seven-time F1 champion is a coup for Ferrari. And team boss Vasseur hopes Hamilton, who will have turned 40 by his first race for the Scuderia, can add to the “cultural mix” he is looking for within the squad.
He told FormulaPassion: “One thing that is valid for Lewis, but also for the engineers, is that it is important to have a cultural mix, with people from different backgrounds, experiences and education. Hamilton brings his own personal baggage.
“In addition to being a seven-time world champion, he has a great deal of experience in working with top teams, such as McLaren and Mercedes. I also know his qualities and I am sure that he will contribute to the evolution of the team. It is not just a question of being fast on the track, but also of motivating and pushing the team.”
Hamilton has had plenty of team-mates throughout his lengthy career. He is currently partnered with George Russell and, apart from a few flashpoints, they have largely got along well throughout their time together at Mercedes.
The same cannot be said for all of Hamilton’s partners since he made his F1 debut. Most famously, in his maiden season, he clashed repeatedly with Fernando Alonso at McLaren to the point that the Spaniard left at the end of the year.
Next term he will work with Charles Leclerc who has, for several year now, been one of the central cogs around which the Ferrari project has been built. It remains to be seen how the Monegasque will fare going up against one of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen, having for so long been the main man at Maranello.
But Vasseur insists he has no concerns about that right now. The Frenchman went on to say he believes Leclerc can benefit in the long term from the experience of having been measured against a seven-time champion.
He added: “They are at different points in their careers. Charles can learn a lot from Lewis, who has 18 seasons of Formula 1 under his belt and has gained a huge amount of experience. I am sure that their relationship will be positive and this will create a beneficial dynamic for the team.”
