Vasseur rejects Hamilton hint over Ferrari bosses

Frederic Vasseur has pushed back against Lewis Hamilton’s suggestion that Ferrari’s deeper problems may involve people above the team principal, insisting his relationship with senior management is strong and the organisation itself is not the issue.

Hamilton said on Thursday that Ferrari’s structure may need reviewing and that "there are also people above" Vasseur who form part of the wider picture.

Asked directly about that implication, Vasseur said: "Honestly, the relationship that I have with my bosses, Benedetto (Vigna) and John (Elkann), is a very good one."

"We are in daily contact, and I can’t complain at all about the organisation. But for sure, you always want to get more, you always want to do more, you always want to recruit more too."

"But honestly, it has nothing to do with the organisation."

Vasseur also rejected the idea of singling out individuals amid Ferrari’s struggles.

"On the comment of Lewis, I think it would be a mistake to finger-point someone or something or whatever."

"In the good moments, we are winning as a team. In the bad moments, we are suffering as a team."

"Honestly, I think it would be a huge mistake to start to not be unified."

Vasseur said Ferrari’s extraordinary public statement backing him this week had become "mandatory" because the constant speculation was damaging the team’s working environment.

"The big issue that we have today is the stability, the serenity into the team, the focus that we need to have."

Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, has chosen a simpler way of avoiding the noise.

"I’ve deleted social media apps from my phone, so I don’t see much of what’s going on," he said.