Damon Hill: Heat on Vasseur, Ferrari should be F1 title contenders
F1 NewsSaturday, 17 May 2025 at 10:55
Damon Hill believes the pressure is mounting on Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur as the great Formula 1 team seems lost at sea, only six races into this year's World Championship, and it is clear that this year will serve the Reds no titles.
Ferrari endured a tough opening day of their home Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, with both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc complaining about the SF-25's inefficiencies on Friday.
The best Ferrari on the opening day at Imola was Leclerc, who ended the day P6, half a second down on the top time set by McLaren's Oscar Piastri. Hamilton was a couple of tenths down on his teammate, down in P11. This time, both drivers moaned about the brakes, or rather, the lack thereof.
Ferrari's form has been disappointing so far this season. Despite Hamilton's sensational Sprint Race at the Chinese Grand Prix, there is no championship hope for this campaign. Wins will be tough to achieve, as upgrades to the SF-25 have not delivered upward mobility for the Reds.
Hill: Fred’s going to feel the heat
1996 F1 World Champion Hill reckons that the buck stops with Vasseur: "Fred’s going to feel the heat. I think he’s going to feel the pressure now. He’s had a bit of a honeymoon period slotting in, but now we’ve got a race like this where they appear to be very uncompetitive or not really competitive.
"Ferrari shouldn’t be being beaten by Williams – no disrespect to what Williams has done. They’ve done a fantastic job – but they should be way up there. They should be fighting for the title," Hill told the BBC.
Under Vasseur's watch, which began in January 2023, the Scuderia have only won six GPs. This weekend at Imola, Ferrari's first of two home races, things do not look good for a home victory. Even a podium may elude them on Sunday if their FP1 and FP2 form is anything to go by.
Add to that another operational gaffe, which cost Ferrari €5,000. The Italian team was fined after breaching tyre regulations during FP1 on Friday at Imola. The penalty was issued after the team altered tyre pressures on Charles Leclerc’s car during the session.
According to the FIA, tyre pressures may not be adjusted once a car has left the garage and used the same set of tyres. Leclerc completed an initial run before being pushed back into the Ferrari garage. When he returned to the track on the same set of tyres, the pressures had been changed, prompting the investigation and subsequent fine.
Hamilton to Ferrari pitwall: These damn brakes mate…
These lapses are not uncommon at the Vasseur-led Ferrari team of this era. Add to that dubious strategy decisions during races this season that have hampered both of their drivers. Hamilton's radio frustrations with his new team often go viral. Leclerc is also not shy these days to lambaste his crew from the cockpit as they fumble about.
As for the woes on Friday, Hamilton reported over the team radio: "These damn brakes mate... Urgh, these brakes are a problem."
After FP2, the seven-time F1 World Champion explained his frustration: "It's not the transition, it's the performance. It's a lottery, we'll roll the dice and you put one [pad] on and it works, and put another on and it doesn't. I hope tomorrow we figure something out, we're working on it for sure.
“The car still has potential that we haven’t been able to exploit. I hope that this week we can start to see some progress. There is a specific problem, the most relevant of all, that we are trying to solve. But it is not the only one: there are other related critical issues that overall are making us lose time."
The seven time F1 World Champion continued: "I know the team is working on several new features, but I can't say today whether they will be able to gain us four tenths, half a second or more by the end of the season. We are not ruling out any options, we have to stay open, keep pushing and believe that we can get back to fighting for wins."
Hamilton: We have to aim for victory, not settle for seventh
The Briton added: “Every weekend the goal remains the same, to aim for victory. When I sit down with the engineers, I always ask myself what we can do to win the race. Maybe it's an optimistic approach, but it's the right one.
"You have to arrive with a positive, aggressive mentality. I won't go out on track thinking of fighting for seventh or eighth place, even if that's the reality at the moment. And I want to change that mentality," insisted Hamilton.
For that to happen, Vasseur has to galvanise the troops and somehow turn the troublesome SF-25 into a drivable race car for Leclerc and Hamilton, both proven super qualifiers and race winners. Without that, Ferrari’s woes are likely to continue unchecked.
Final word to Vasseur: "Honestly, we did not expect this start to the season, we have to be honest with ourselves. We expected better. We ended last year with McLaren a little faster than us, a couple of tenths, and we were able to fight with them in some situations."
Vasseur: We haven't done the best job so far
"We expected to start better, but that's how it went. That's sport. We haven't done the best job so far and we have a long way to go to close the gap with McLaren," admitted Vasseur.
As for the Ferrari SF-25's shortcomings, Vasseur said: "It's clear that McLaren, when the temperature is warmer, does a much better job with the tyres. This is clear to us and to everyone. Then it's quite difficult to understand. I think it's more a question of tyres and putting yourself in the right window.
"It's not that we lack something in the fast or slow corners. It depends on the tracks, mainly the asphalt. I think it's more a question of getting the best out of the package we have and the characteristics of the car," explained the Ferrari boss.
As for the SF-25 updates that have done little to improve the package, Vasseur told Sky Italia: "You have to be careful with the budget cap. You can’t do what you did 10 or 15 years ago. At some point this season we will have to focus totally on 2026, but that goes for everyone. We will have to decide the right moment."
Before McLaren's rivals forget this season altogether, they are desperately hoping that the FIA directive on flexible wings that comes into force from Barcelona will level the playing field. But Vasseur played down expectations: “It will be a big change, but it doesn’t mean that McLaren won’t still be at the front.”
Is Fred Vasseur the right man to lead Ferrari?
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