Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has insisted that he has no concerns over Lewis Hamilton’s deficit to Mercedes team-mate George Russell in qualifying in F1 2024.
Hamilton is in his final season as a Mercedes driver, having announced in February that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from the F1 2025 campaign.
His departure at the end of this year will bring an end to the most successful team-driver partnership in F1 history, with Hamilton winning six of his joint-record seven World Championships – as well as becoming the first man to surpass 100 race wins and pole positions – since joining Mercedes in 2013.
Hamilton collected his second victory of the F1 2024 season at the recent Belgian Grand Prix, where he inherited a record-extending 105th career triumph after Russell was disqualified for having an underweight car.
Despite leading his team-mate by 34 points, Hamilton, who will turn 40 next January, has lagged behind Russell in qualifying conditions this season with Russell starting ahead in 10 of the first 14 races.
Vasseur has played down the suggestion that Hamilton’s qualifying form is a cause for concern ahead of his arrival at Ferrari in F1 2025, claiming his points lead over Russell proves that he is the more efficient of the Mercedes drivers.
He told Sky Italy: “Everyone has been saying since the beginning of the season that Russell is faster than Hamilton, but at the moment he is the one who has scored more points for Mercedes.
“In terms of efficiency, I think he’s a good benchmark.
“We know the positive aspects of Lewis’ arrival at Ferrari. For example, his great experience in Formula 1.”
Hamilton will become Charles Leclerc’s new team-mate in F1 2025, replacing Carlos Sainz who last week signed a two-year contract to join backmarkers Williams.
Despite winning his home race from pole position in Monaco, and starting from pole in Spa after Max Verstappen was hit with a 10-place grid penalty, Leclerc has endured another inconsistent season in F1 2024.
Vasseur has acknowledged that Ferrari are not blameless for Leclerc’s mid-season slump, admitting that the team have “collectively overdone it” at times.
He added: “Charles has had some problems over the last few weekends, but I still think he’s lucid and the truth is that sometimes we’ve collectively overdone it.”
Ferrari has struggled with bouncing after recent upgrades, with the increased downforce of recent upgrades thought to have reawakened the porpoising effect commonplace with the current ground-effect cars.
