Lewis Hamilton is proving a ‘perfect fit’ with Ferrari, says team principal Fred Vasseur as SF-25 launches | F1 Newsnews24

Frederic Vasseur says Lewis Hamilton is proving to be a “perfect fit” with Ferrari, as the seven-time world champion prepares for his debut campaign with the Italian team.

Having announced last February that he would join Ferrari after 12 years at Mercedes in one of the most stunning driver transfers in Formula 1 history, Hamilton is just weeks away from his first race in red.

The 40-year-old Brit said he was feeling “invigorated” at F1’s all-team launch in London on Tuesday, before driving their 2025 car – the SF-25 – for the first time at the team’s own Fiorano test track on Wednesday alongside team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Vasseur was Hamilton’s team boss in GP2 (now Formula 2) in 2006 and appears to be very pleased with what he has seen during the early stages of their reunion, ahead of pre-season testing in Bahrain next week – live on Sky Sports F1.

He said: “He’s not the same, he’s 20 years older than when we were together first and everybody is changing, improving, developing.

“For sure, he’s much more mature, much more experienced and he’s the perfect fit with the team today.

“That’s exactly what I was looking for, for the team, for me, for Charles, I think it’s the perfect combination.”

Hamilton’s age, and some underwhelming performances – particularly in qualifying – during his final season with Mercedes have led some to question whether his powers are declining, but Vasseur pointed to the 2024 season finale as evidence of the Brit’s ability.

He added: “He showed in Abu Dhabi, starting from the back and coming back to P4, overtaking Russell in the last lap, that the pace is there and I had no doubt before.”

‘We have to avoid being shy with Hamilton’

Hamilton arrives at a Ferrari team which fell marginally short of claiming a first Constructors’ Championship since 2008 as they finished 2024 just 14 points behind McLaren.

There is great excitement in Italy that Hamilton’s arrival can help end that wait, or the one for a drivers’ title which stretches back a year further.

Before Wednesday’s SF-25 shakedown, Hamilton’s only other time in a Ferrari has been driving their cars from the previous couple of seasons in test days over the last month.

While Vasseur acknowledges that situation will, at least for now, limit how much feedback Hamilton can provide, even small offerings could be crucial given the expected tightness of the battle at the front in 2025 as the sport enters the fourth and final season of its current cycle of regulations.

Vasseur said: “They (drivers) all are part of the development of the car, of the evolution of the car. For sure, for Lewis it’s the first stage of this collaboration, because he did only two TPCs (testing of previous cars) and is now on track, but for sure, the feedback is always important.

“The feedback is helping the team to develop and to do a better job. Even if it’s some small details, what we have to keep in mind is that last year, we finished 14 points behind McLaren. It means that it’s less than one point per race. It’s an average three hundredths of a second between us and the guy in front of us on the grid.

“It means that we are always speaking about details. It’s not a matter of changing the car completely or whatever. If we are able to bring a small bit of performance on one or two topics, it’s already a huge step forward.

“And Lewis is coming with his own experience, with his own background, and he will help the team to develop in every single area. For sure, he will do a quick comparison between the two engines, between the two chassis, between how we operate on track.

“And us as a team, we have to avoid being shy and to try to understand where we can improve. And this is my job and the job of the technicians.”

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