Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Circuit de Catalunya, 2025

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur shot down questions over the problem which affected the team’s cars during the Spanish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton described his car as feeling “the worst it has ever been” after slipping to sixth place in the last race.

Ahead of this weekend’s race Hamilton said both cars had been “massively” compromised by the problem. However he refused to elaborate on the cause, saying Ferrari “don’t want us to talk about it much”.

Vasseur also refused to address the problem when asked during yesterday’s press conference. “When I’m telling you in the press conference that I won’t disclose, don’t come back 10 minutes later to try to understand,” he said.

“And the Friday after, to try to understand, I won’t disclose what’s happened. It is like it is. Full stop.”

Pressed for any details on the problem, Vasseur replied sarcastically: “We put the front wheel [on] the rear.”

Charles Leclerc, who finished third in Spain, indicated at the end of the race he understood the problem the team encountered. “I know why the last part of the race was poor,” he said. “I’ll explain, but there is an explanation.”

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Hamilton’s radio messages about handling problems in Spain

LapSpeakerMessage
19HamiltonI’ve got massive understeer, mate. Did you take wing out?
19AdamiNegative.
30HamiltonYeah just no grip, mate. The rear is nowhere today.
55AdamiThe Safety Car is deployed. Hamilton slows down
And box.
55HamiltonI’ve got a massive vibration.
55AdamiCharge button on. And we are boxing. Let me know for flap when you can.
55HamiltonUh, maybe that was too much front. Got massively oversteery. So, can go the opposite way.
55AdamiWe can go down four clicks. Copy that. Down four clicks.
55HamiltonYeah. Take five. Got massive vibration on these tyres for some reason.
57HamiltonThe front of the car feels so light, all of a sudden. Something wrong with that last front wing, I think.
57AdamiUnderstood. We corrected for this stint. Diff mid three, suggestion.
62HamiltonThe race restarts
Ah, got no front wing.
64HamiltonI don’t know what’s wrong with this car, mate.
64AdamiTwo laps to go, try your best. Hulkenberg 0.4 behind.
66HamiltonYeah, unbelievable guys. There’s something wrong with this car mate it’s the worst it’s ever been.

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