'It's not easy' - Fred Vasseur understands Lewis Hamilton frustration with Ferrari

Fred Vasseur has said he can "perfectly understand" the frustration Lewis Hamilton expressed en route to eighth place at the Miami Grand Prix.

The Ferrari team principal explained he spoke with the British driver after the chequered flag at the Miami International Autodrome, with the seven-time F1 drivers' champion claiming he told his boss to "calm down" during that discussion.

The exchange followed tensions spilling over on team radio during the 57-lap race, with Hamilton stating his remarks of "tea breaks" and asking if he should intentionally let Carlos Sainz past were nothing more than sarcasm.

Not alone in playing down the episode, the 40-year-old was joined by Vasseur who maintained the Italian team "did a good job" in Florida, despite widespread criticism of the Scuderia.

"I had a discussion with Lewis, and I can perfectly understand the frustration," Vasseur told media, including RacingNews365.

"They are champions, they want to win races. We are asking them to let their team-mate go. It's not easy.

"It's never easy, and I didn't see another team do it, but it's why we took the responsibility to do it because it's the policy for the team.

"We are racing for Ferrari first, and honestly, I think as a team, we did a good job."

'It's not the story of the day'

With Hamilton remonstrating the inaction behind the wheel of his SF-25, Ferrari did eventually swap him and Charles Leclerc around, before reversing that move once it became evident the 105-time grand prix winner would not find a way past Kimi Antonelli.

Vasseur reiterated it was not a straightforward decision, despite it potentially appearing that way from the outside looking in.

"Again, we can argue that it would have been better to do it the lap before, but when you are in control and you have to understand if the car that’s behind is faster than the car in front just from DRS or not, it's not an easy call," the 56-year-old added.

"It's always much easier to do it two hours later. We asked them to do it, they did it. The frustration when you are in the car, I can perfectly understand this.

"It’s not the story of the day. We'd be much more keen to speak about [why] we finished one minute behind McLaren."