Hamilton “incredibly happy” Ferrari has extended Vasseur’s contract

Both Ferrari drivers said they fully backed the Scuderia’s decision to retain Frederic Vasseur as team principal.

Ferrari announced a new multiple-year contract with Vasseur yesterday. There had been speculation in some Italian publications that Ferrari was considering replacing him following their slump in performance at the start of the season.

But Lewis Hamilton, whom Vasseur lured to Ferrari from Mercedes last year, said he is the right person for the job.

“Fred told me yesterday, which I was incredibly happy about,” he told the official Formula 1 channel. “I knew it was the right decision.

“Continuity is really important I think for the team and I think Fred’s the right person to lead this team as I’ve said from the beginning.”

Vasseur is in his third year of running the team. Ferrari has won at least one race in each of his seasons in charge but are yet to claim a victory in 2025.

However Charles Leclerc, who has driven for Ferrari since 2019, said Vasseur has undoubtedly had a positive influence on them, particularly given the unique pressures associated with F1’s most famous and historic teams.

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“Without going into comparing the different eras, Fred has an incredible vision,” said Leclerc. “What’s very difficult within Ferrari is the emotion is very much part of the daily job because Italian people in general – and that’s what makes Ferrari so special – are extremely passionate about Ferrari.

Fred really knows how to leave his emotions aside and have a clear vision of where we are at no matter how much noise there is around the team. This is very, very important.

“Apart from that, he’s got many more qualities. One of them is also to extract the maximum out of every single person at the factory and this, when you put everything together, it makes a big difference.”

Leclerc also enthusiastically welcomed the news of Vasseur’s contract extension. “Especially in the past month, there were quite a few rumours, like it’s always the case around the team,” he said. “To finally have the official news out is important and I’m really happy.”

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