Red Mist: High drama within Ferrari as Zandvoort beckons

When Formula 1 finally emerges from its annual August hiatus at Zandvoort this weekend, the biggest focus will inevitably shine on Ferrari. Will Lewis Hamilton be there? Will he be motivated and charged up if he does? How long will Lewis still be racing, etc?

The speculation is well founded: “Oh it's me every time,” Hamilton confessed over Ferrari’s pit to car radio cruising home to the box after another less than happy outing in Hungary last time out: “Yeah, I’m useless, absolutely useless,” he went on, before adding: “The team has no problem. The car was on pole. We probably need to change the driver.”

That sent the Formula 1 world into a spin. And Lewis did little to quell it in the post-race pen: “I still love racing, but when you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There's a lot going on in the background that's not great..."

Hamilton’s only visit to the podium in the first half of his first season in red was his shock Chinese Grand Prix sprint win off pole position. Since then, he’s struggled to match teammate Leclerc, who himself battles on with a recalcitrant Ferrari this season.

Still, Charles sticks up for Lewis: “We’re a team, and as much as I want to finish in front of Lewis, I want both of us, and Ferrari to be successful,” Leclerc pointed out in the post-Hungarian shambles. “It was a tough weekend for Lewis, but I have no doubt it's a one-off, and I'm sure the second part of the season will be a lot more positive.”

Hungarian polesitter Leclerc has his own issues with the Ferrari, leading most of the race before his car mysteriously and quite literally dropped off the cliff to become ‘undriveable’. “We’re not going into the second half of the season thinking that we can win anywhere. That's what makes the frustration even bigger,” Leclerc warns.

Team boss Fred Vasseur similarly has his driver’s back. "I don't need to motivate Lewis,” Fred owned up. “Honestly, he's frustrated, not demotivated. "Yeah, he's demanding. But that’s why he's a seven-times world champion. He's demanding with the team, with the car, with the engineers, with the mechanics, with myself as well.

Fred said: "I can perfectly understand the situation. But if you put the microphone on some other sportsmen in football and so on, it would be much better. Sometimes, just after the race or just after qualifying, you are very disappointed, and the first reaction is harsh. I can understand the frustration, but we’re all frustrated.

Vasseur also insists Hamilton's Hungarian weekend looked worse than it was. "It's tough when your team-mate is on pole and you are out in Q2. But take a deep look and you’ll see that Lewis was in front of Charles in Q1, with the first set. He was one-tenth off in Q2, and we were not far away from having the two cars out in Q2.

“Then Charles put it on pole position. The issue is that Lewis just did one lap two tenths slower than Charles, and he was out in Q2. I don't know if we were unlucky with Lewis or lucky with Charles to go through, but at the end of the day, it was really on the edge.

"Then he was stuck in a DRS train, but when he was alone, Lewis’ pace was good. "But I can understand the frustration from Lewis; that's normal, and he will come back. In fact, I am sure that Lewis will be back and he will perform," Vasseur insisted.

From your lips to God’s ears, Fred!