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Frederic Vasseur

Ferrari must 'turn page' after Hamilton news - Vasseur

After the initial shock of the news that Lewis Hamilton would join Ferrari, Team Principal Frederic Vasseur believes the team should not lose sight of its objectives.

Vasseur Hamilton Baku 2023
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Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur believes the team must get over the initial hype of the news that Lewis Hamilton will join them in 2025, and focus all their efforts into this season.

Hamilton's announcement that 2024 will be his last season with Mercedes to join the Scuderia shocked the F1 world, while also blowing open what was a stagnant driver market.

Questions have been raised over whether Ferrari can deliver a car that can challenge for titles, as Hamilton seeks to earn his record eighth Drivers' Championship.

But Vasseur thinks it is important to focus on fixing their problems this year, instead of getting carried away about their future plans.

"We have to turn this page and to be focused on 2024. We have a season in front of us and I want to keep all this discussion [saved] for 2025," Vassuer told media, including RacingNews365.

"It's good for the team at least to know exactly what we'll do in the future, but the next topic is 2024 not 2025."

Vassuer: We had a good recovery last season

Ferrari started off the 2023 season on the back foot with poor reliability costing them early points, while Charles Leclerc failed to finish two of the first three races.

This improved later on in the season, as both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz regularly finished on the podium - the latter taking the only non-Red Bull win of the season at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Vassuer wants to carry the momentum from the last part of the 2023 season into this year, as Ferrari look to close the gap to Red Bull.

"Last year was a difficult season, but I think it was difficult for everybody except Red Bull," said Vassuer.

"We know that the step in front of us is a huge one. But we had a good recovery over last season, and I think in the last part of the year we did pretty well. We have to build up the 2024 season on this one."

This year presents an opportunity to catch up given the stability of the regulations, with no major changes year-on-year for teams.

When asked if he thinks there will be any convergence between the field, Vasseur said: "Convergence with Red Bull? I don't know.

"But all the others I think at least will converge with the same regulation. Five years in a row, you will have a convergence of performance."

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