Lewis Hamilton issues forceful Ferrari instruction amid rampant F1 speculation

Lewis Hamilton has told his Ferrari rank-and-file "not to read any of the stuff being written" amid the rampant speculation around the future of boss Fred Vasseur. 

Vasseur's future at the helm of the Scuderia has been called into question in the past few weeks, with former Red Bull boss Christian Horner issuing a 'come-and-get-me-plea' to the team by declaring it to be the "dream job" in F1.

Horner also made clear that Ferrari was the only job he would consider in F1 where he would stay as an employee of a team rather than join the ownership structure, something he is keen to do as he seeks a route back into grand prix racing following his 2025 dismissal as CEO and team principal of Red Bull.

Reacting to the rumours for the first time, Vasseur claimed the Horner links were distracting the "serenity" within Ferrari - with the team setting up an extraordinary media briefing between the Azerbaijan and Bahrain races to confirm chairman John Elkann and CEO Benedetto Vigna enjoyed "full confidence" in the Frenchman, who has been in control since replacing Mattia Binotto ahead of the 2023 season. 

Whilst Hamilton himself feels the rumours have "zero effect" on him, he felt the same could not be said for the mechanics and engineers on the shop floor - as he issued a firm instruction. 

"For me, I don't read all the stuff, so it has zero effect on me. But of course, when I come into the room and see it, it definitely affects individuals in the team because every weekend they try to show up and do the best job they can, and they don't get it right all the time," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365. 

"When your families are messaging you for things that they're reading, all the negative things that they're reading, when the people back at the factory are reading all those things, even though they're giving it their all, it's like they just can't do [anything].

"There's nothing [they can do]; it's almost like sometimes you feel there's nothing you can do right, even when you're giving it all. So, I just talk for me. 

"The message is to not read any of the stuff that's being written, because the fact is nobody who's writing any of the stuff has actually any clue what they're talking about because they're not in the team. They don't know what's happening behind closed doors. 

"They don't know how hard everybody's working. It's all done through assumptions and opinions. So that's just frustrating to see."

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Hamilton's 2027 feeling

Although Ferrari's 2026 title challenge has faltered as the season has progressed, Hamilton believes the blocks are in place for 2027.

"What we're going to do is just continue to try and focus on doing the best job we can, regardless of what's written. We will get to where we want to be," he said.

"I knew in the second year [of being in the team], we weren't going to be where we want to be, but I'm hoping and praying with the hard work of everybody, maybe next year we can get to where we want to."