Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur launched an impassioned defence of Lewis Hamilton after his latest disappointing result, saying he ‘2000 per cent’ backs his star signing to come good.
After his seventh-place finish in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Hamilton admitted he ‘didn’t enjoy one second’ of the experience.
He added: ‘Clearly the car is capable of third (as secured by his team-mate Charles Leclerc). So, I can’t blame the car.’
Except for a fine win in the sprint race in China, Hamilton has finished 10th, disqualified, seventh, fifth and seventh since joining on a £60million-a-year deal.
But Vasseur will not hear a word against the seven-time world champion, saying: ‘I will give him support and we will start straight away to find solutions.
‘I am not too worried. Have a look at what he did in China or what he did in Bahrain last week or even in the first part of the session this weekend. The potential is there for sure.
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has jumped to the defence of star signing Lewis Hamilton
Vasseur is adamant Hamilton will be a success for Ferrari despite his initial struggles
Hamilton expressed his frustration after he finished in seventh place in Saudi Arabia
‘He’s down because he finished seventh and his team-mate is on the podium. It is positive that Lewis is down because if he was happy it wouldn’t be normal.
Asked why Ferrari’s form had dipped so far, Vasseur exclaimed: ‘Dramatically!? We have done five races so far. I know that you won’t have the big headlines tomorrow that Fred said this… but this (analysis) is f****** bull****.
‘You have ups and downs. When we have an up, we are not world champions. When we are down, we are not nowhere.’