Ferrari issue 'calm down' plea after startling Lewis Hamilton comments

Fred Vasseur has issued a "calm down" plea to Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time champion's striking assessment of his Las Vegas Grand Prix.

After qualifying slowest of all for the first time in his F1 career in Sin City, Hamilton started P19 following Yuki Tsunoda's pit-lane start, and quickly made up places in the Turn 1 chaos, to run 13th on the favoured hard tyres.

He became stuck behind Haas's Esteban Ocon, but eventually found a way past. But after switching to the mediums for his second stint, Hamilton's progress stalled out as he finished 10th on the road, 8.2s behind Nico Hulkenberg in the customer Ferrari-powered Stake.

After climbing from the SF-25, Hamilton described his race as "meaningless", although he was soon promoted to eighth, earning three more points, after the disqualification of the McLaren drivers. 

But when Hamilton's comment was put to Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal urged caution in making such claims whilst adrenaline was still high from being in the car.

"The main issue was [qualifying], and when you start P20, for sure the race is difficult, but at the end of the day, he had a decent first part of the race," Vasseur told media, including RacingNews365. 

"We struggled a bit more on the mediums, but for now, we have to calm down. To jump out of the car and make the first comments, it is always a bit too much, so let's discuss after the debrief.

"It is true on the mathematical side, the last couple of weekends have been very difficult with the Brazil DNF, Austin, and we got the penalty in Mexico and this one, but overall, I think Mexico and Austin were the best weekends from Lewis in terms of pure performance.

"But it is true that the team did not put everything together, and it is why on the mathematical side, we made a huge step down in the championship, but in terms of pure performance, we are not in so bad a shape as compared to mid-season. 

"I understand the reaction from Lewis just after the race, but you have to calm down and be focused on the next two [races]. 

"[You should] keep in mind that Lewis was there in FP1 and FP2, and the pace was good, and we have to build the weekend up, and starting P20 is not the best way to have good results.

"We don't have to change completely, we are struggling to have a clean weekend, but either it is the penalty or contact with [Franco] Colapinto [in Brazil], or qualifying, it is not only pure performance.

"For sure, we have to improve on performance, but it is clear it is more about the way we build up the weekend."