Ferrari respond to Lewis Hamilton 'recovery' as crash investigation confirmed

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has confirmed the Italian squad will look into Lewis Hamilton's race-ending crash at the Dutch Grand Prix, despite not initially believing there to be any issue with his car.

It appeared to be an uncharacteristic driver error from seven-time F1 drivers' champion, but the Frenchman was nonetheless pleased with Hamilton's response to a difficult period before the summer break, highlighting his strong pace at Zandvoort before his SF-25 ended up in the wall on the exit of Turn 3.

When it was put to Vasseur that the British driver seems to make mistakes just as he is making a breakthrough with the Prancing Horse, he disagreed with the suggestion that it was down to confidence, instead arguing Hamilton's crash in the Netherlands was an isolated incident.

"Not really. I think that this one was a bit of a special one," the 56-year-old told media, including RacingNews365.

"The track was a bit damp. It was during the first drizzle. He was a bit wider than the lap before that. Now we need to investigate if something happened on the car or not, but I don't think so.

"But overall, the reaction from Lewis was good, that he was into the pace of the car and of Charles from the beginning of the weekend. He was catching up to Russell at that stage [of the race]...

"That was a good recovery after two tough races before the break. But for sure, the outcome is not the one expected."

Zandvoort was 'good preparation for Monza' - Vasseur

The 40-year-old has endured a torrid first campaign with the Scuderia, but his weekend in Zandvoort was a notable step forward from the difficult patch he suffered through in Belgium and Hungary.

Vasseur believes it will provide Hamilton with an injection of confidence, something he feels is "good preparation" for the Italian Grand Prix.

"Overall, yes," he replied when asked if the 105-time grand prix winner would have got a boost from the round. "I think that we'll see tomorrow when we do the full debriefing.

"But the first reaction after the race was more positive on the weekend, on the fact that he was there, he was fighting for P5 or P4 in the race.

"That is much better than what he did last race, in Budapest. It means that I think the confidence is back, and it's a good preparation for Monza."

Hamilton's task at Ferrari's home race was made more formidable following the Dutch Grand Prix when he was handed a five-place grid penalty for a yellow flag infringement prior to race start.