Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has made a bold prediction surrounding Lewis Hamilton despite the Brit’s struggles with his new team this year.
Hamilton’s Ferrari woe has been well documented, with the car unable to compete with the teams at the front of the grid but the 40-year-old also consistently under-performing compared to teammate Charles Leclerc.
At this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, the Brit admitted he’s “still not 100 per cent comfortable with the car” and the “alien driving style” required to get the best out of it.
With eight races remaining, Hamilton is yet to record a podium finish, having always recorded at least five top-three finishes in each of his 18 previous F1 seasons.
There were green shoots of recovery at Monza as he qualified fifth and although dropped to P10 on the grid due to five-place penalty earned at the Dutch Grand Prix, he fought his way up to sixth by the time he crossed the finishing line, less than five seconds down on George Russell.
And, off the back of that, Vasseur has boldly projected confidence when asked if a first Ferrari podium finish will soon arrive for Hamilton.
“Yeah, because he was able to fight with Russell at Zandvoort and was able to come from P10 to the gearbox of Russell [at Monza],” explained Vasseur. “Yes, we can expect to be on the podium.
“Honestly, it started in Zandvoort last week, and it’s difficult because the outcome of the weekend was not positive, but at the end of the day, the pace was better from the beginning compared to Charles.
“The mood was better during the race, he was fighting with Russell until lap 30, and that means he was in a better position, and I think the energy he received from the Tifosi [Ferrari fans] on Wednesday in Milan was something very special for him.
“I don’t know what he was expecting, but it was something mega, and this gave him an extra boost all weekend. For sure, we had to serve the penalty, and knew it would not be an easy one, but he came back, and the pace was there from the first lap of FP1.”
Despite Vasseur’s supreme confidence, Ferrari fans should perhaps temper expectations as Hamilton is eager not to get ahead of himself.
“I don't think so,” insisted Hamilton when asked if he would now be fighting for podiums after the relative positivity of Monza. “Charles [Leclerc, finished fourth] was giving it everything, Max is up there now.
“We don't have the pace of Red Bull, today they were rapid, or McLaren, and currently we're fourth. A podium here or there? There's a chance to have that at some point. But in terms of pure pace, we don't have that.”
However, he was optimistic that performances have improved and is slowly getting to grips with the famous red machine.
“I’m happy with the progress through the weekend,” Hamilton added. “I think the progress from last weekend, and then carried that through this week, and so I’ve been relatively happy with the car, the progress.
“I mean, FP1, the car felt great. I think that’s where it felt probably the best. Then we went into FP2, we made changes into qualifying, and I think it was the most we could get from it.”
And come Sunday, he was targeting a fifth-place finish, although former Mercedes teammate Russell ultimately finished jsut ahead of him: “I positioned the car really nicely, made my way forwards, and I think I could have got fifth today. I think I was 1.5 seconds behind George. We could have tried to undercut him. We missed that opportunity.”
