Vasseur backs Hamilton after astonishing F1 claim

Frederic Vasseur has dismissed Lewis Hamilton's own claim of "not being fast anymore" as he backed his incoming Ferrari driver.

After qualifying seventh for the sprint race in Qatar, nearly four-tenths slower than team-mate George Russell, Hamilton declared "I'm just slow, same every weekend" and "I'm definitely not fast anymore".

The 104-time F1 pole-sitter has struggled in qualifying in the ground-effects era, taking only a single pole position - at the 2023 Hungarian GP and was comprehensively out-performed by Russell in the team-mate head to heads, losing 5-19 in grands prix sessions, rising to 24-6 once sprints are added in.

Hamilton's new team-mate will be Charles Leclerc, regarded as one of, if not the, fastest driver over a single lap, but Vasseur is sure Hamilton still has underlying pace.

"Ask that question to [George] Russell on Sunday [in Abu Dhabi]," Vasseur told select media, including RacingNews365, referring to the last-lap move for fourth place on his now former Mercedes team-mate when presented with Hamilton's 'I'm not fast anymore' comment.

"It is on Sunday that you are scoring points first, and I am not worried at all about this.

"He has had tough moments in quali, but the quality of Abu Dhabi was linked to the performance of Lewis.

"He had very good races in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, and I was never, never worried about the situation.

"I don't want to blame Lewis or Mercedes but this situation is not easy to manage and if it is not going well, the relationship can suffer.

"It was not very well in his mind, he was clear about this in Brazil, but he did very well in the last couple of events, so I am not worried."

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Hamilton's Ferrari debut

Hamilton is expected to be on-track for the first time in a Ferrari in January in a 2023 car, allowed under the testing of previous cars running. 

Vasseur described how Ferrari would adjust to welcoming Hamilton, and the key part the simulators would play.

"For sure we know that we'll have a lot of procedures to assimilate during these couple of days, but I think he is experienced enough to do this, and we will have the advantage of the simulators," he said.

"He will be able to do a race simulation, a quali simulation and be fully prepared with the steering wheel and all the particularities of the car, but honestly, I am not worried about it, it is not the biggest challenge."