Ferrari F1 boss issues statement after Hamilton start

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has discussed his team’s difficult start to the season, as Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at the Scuderia has got off to a less than desirable start.

Hamilton's arrival at Ferrari was celebrated with sufficient fanfare, but so far the 40-year-old only has a sprint race victory to thank for his points tally not adopting a rather embarrassing look, and he currently sits down in eighth in the drivers’ standings, below Williams driver Alex Albon.

Ferrari have appeared to lack pace compared to their rivals at the front, and two disqualifications at the Chinese Grand Prix for Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc has led to them sitting 76 points behind early leaders McLaren in the constructors' championship.

However, Vasseur is not concerned about Ferrari’s tumultuous start to the season, claiming that the team are usually worse at the start of the season, suggesting that Hamilton's chances of a grand prix victory could increase throughout the year.

"I’m used [to it] because the last two years we started like this," Vasseur said via Formula 1.com.

"For sure it is not ideal and I would prefer to win the first one. But we don’t need to change the approach from last year as we are almost in the same situation, perhaps a bit worse in terms of pace, and the reaction of the team was very, very strong.

"We worked as a team, made small step by small step and we have to keep exactly the same approach, but for sure it is not ideal."

Can Ferrari fight for the championship in 2025?

Ferrari concluded the 2024 season in the hunt for the constructors’ championship, but were beaten to the title at the last race in Abu Dhabi where they had to settle for second.

Nevertheless, Ferrari enjoyed five race wins last year as their competitiveness increased; but it appears the team have taken a step backwards at the start of 2025.

Hamilton and Leclerc’s double disqualification at the Chinese GP dealt a huge blow to the team early on in the season, which saw the two drivers tumble down the drivers’ standings.

Whilst they recovered with a points-scoring result in Japan, Ferrari estimate they are still 0.3 to 0.4 seconds off front runners McLaren, who so far have not put a foot wrong, and have stood on the podium at all three rounds of the season.

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