Vasseur: Hamilton's maiden Ferrari victory is a "huge push for us"
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s first victory for Ferrari was more than a long‑awaited personal milestone — it was a statement of intent from a team that has spent the past 18 months rebuilding itself piece by piece.
Hamilton delivered a classy performance in qualifying to secure second place behind his former team-mate George Russell. Although the Mercedes driver looked slightly quicker in the opening stages of the races, Hamilton managed to keep his former team-mate in sight.
Hamilton’s soft‑tyre start forced an early stop and committed him to a three‑stop strategy, but the Briton’s pace on both the medium and hard compounds kept him firmly in the fight. When a Virtual Safety Car arrived at the perfect moment, Hamilton seized the lead — and from there, he was untouchable, pulling away to win by nearly twenty seconds.
For Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur, the victory was a validation of the team’s direction and a tribute to the people behind it.
“This is a very good day for the whole team, for Lewis and for all the guys at the factory who are pushing flat‑out all the time. This result is the best way to thank them,” he said, emphasising how much the win meant after a turbulent period.
“The past year and a half has been quite difficult, with plenty of ups and downs, so to win today is a huge push for us. It is a strong start to the European part of the season. Before this, we had two consecutive podium finishes in Canada and Monaco and now we can add the win, having had a strong enough pace to fight for pole yesterday.”
Vasseur highlighted Hamilton’s execution as the decisive factor. “From lap 1, we knew tyre management would be the key and in that respect Lewis did a fantastic job all race long. He was in control of the situation, pushing when we asked him to. Our strategy was aggressive but that is what you can afford to do when you have the pace for the win.”
But the afternoon was bittersweet. Hamilton's team-mate Charles Leclerc had climbed from P10 to seventh and fought Max Verstappen for much of the race before a late power‑steering failure forced him to retire — his second consecutive DNF.
Vasseur acknowledged the frustration but remained confident in Leclerc’s trajectory. “Charles was unlucky as he had to retire a few laps from the end but I'm sure he will be fighting for victories together with Lewis in the coming races.”
Despite the emotional weight of Hamilton’s first Ferrari win, Vasseur was careful to keep expectations grounded. “We start over again in Austria in a fortnight’s time, approaching the weekend in the same way we did here, keeping in mind that we were not nowhere two weeks ago and we are not world champions today.”
