Ferrari take surprising stance on Lewis Hamilton: 'I like it'

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur insists he likes how Lewis Hamilton has responded to setbacks early in his time with the Italian team.

After qualifying ninth for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the seven-time F1 drivers' champion could not hide his disappointment.

Part of Hamilton's struggles at the Scuderia are derived from the difficulty he is finding in adapting to a new car after such a long time racing for rivals Mercedes.

The Briton has singled out his unfamiliarity with the brand of brakes used by the Maranello squad and the need to use engine braking with the SF-25, which was not required at his former team.

"You won't replace 12 years of collaboration in two weeks or two races," Vasseur told the media, including RacingNews365.

"For sure, we need to improve, but I think this is true for everybody in the team, in the paddock - the DNA of our sport is to try to do a better job."

The Frenchman maintains that Hamilton's current frame of mind is positive, as he seeks out improvement and looks to find comfort driving the Ferrari.

"And I think it's good to have Lewis with this mindset [of], 'It's okay. I have to improve myself and adapt myself to the car.'

"We will work on the car, to adapt the car to Lewis, but he also needs to take a step. And I think this, between us, is done in a positive way and a very constructive way.

"Now, the fact that he was a bit down [after qualifying in Bahrain], I like it, because if he is coming back P10 [P9], and he says, 'Ah, it's a shame'...

"But no, for sure he was disappointed, because he was much better all the weekend so far [up to that point]."

Vasseur hands Hamilton reset

The 105-time grand prix winner put together a strong display during the grand prix, recovering to fifth place by the chequered flag, one position behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Reflecting on why Hamilton had to work his way back through after qualifying, Vasseur was quick to highlight how big an impact a small error or failing to fully execute can have on a weekend in contemporary F1.

"Now, we know it happens like this in F1 today - that was not the case three, four years ago - when you had a five-tenths [of a second] between the teams, because if you do a mistake, you lose one position, one row," the 56-year-old explained.

"Today, you lose five tenths [and] you can lose six or seven positions. Charles was on the first row, but if he was three or four hundredths [of a second] slower, he would have been P6 [on the grid].

"It's always relative, you know, [so] we have to stay calm in terms of judgement of the performance, because sometimes, for almost nothing, you can change a good weekend to a very poor one, and vice versa.

"It meant that I appreciated the direction of Lewis [after qualifying]. I did my best to push him a little bit, and [in the race] he was in a very good shape and very strong shape. But let's start from there next week and hope to do the best."