Fred Vasseur says there is no single “game-changer” behind Lewis Hamilton’s improved form with Ferrari, even as the 41-year-old has moved from a podium-less debut campaign to five grand prix podium finishes and a win in Barcelona.
Hamilton’s 2025 season was a difficult one by any measure. He went through his first podium-less campaign in Formula 1, and the early stages of his Ferrari move did not immediately deliver the results many expected. This season has looked very different, with Hamilton now third in the world championship and just 32 points behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Vasseur, however, framed the turnaround as a gradual process rather than the result of one major adjustment. He said the improvement has come from both sides, with Hamilton and the team getting to know each other better and continuing to work on the car from the start of the project. In Vasseur’s view, the gains have arrived “small stone after small stone,” with the car also being better than last year and the package improving step by step.
Why the Ferrari fit has improved
That explanation fits the broader story around Hamilton’s move. Ferrari started the project a long year ago, and Hamilton was involved from the beginning, which means the foundation for this season’s progress was already in place before the first race. The relationship between driver and team also matters, especially in a first year together, when communication and setup direction are still being refined.
Jenson Button offered a similar view over the winter, saying Hamilton and Ferrari had time to sit down and discuss what worked and what did not work for him. Button also pointed to the challenge of settling into a new engineer relationship after leaving Peter Bonnington at Mercedes. But while that adjustment matters, Button said the bigger reason is still the car itself. In his words, the car suits Hamilton’s style more, and Formula 1 has moved back toward a more natural, more normal type of car.
That distinction is important. Hamilton’s recent results are not being framed as a sudden breakthrough from one upgrade or one conversation. Instead, the picture is a more familiar one for F1: a top driver, a stronger car, and a team relationship that is becoming more aligned over time. For Ferrari, that is a promising sign because Hamilton is no longer simply adapting. He is scoring at a level that keeps him in the title conversation.
The contrast with his Mercedes years is also part of the story. Button noted that Hamilton was not really the same driver over the last four years, at least not the version fans remember from his dominant qualifying runs. Now, with five podiums and a Barcelona victory, the 2009 world champion looks much closer to that standard again.
For Ferrari, the key question is whether this is the start of a longer run or just a strong midseason stretch. The evidence so far suggests the answer is less about one turning point and more about steady progress. Hamilton and Ferrari are still building, but the results show that the relationship is working better now than it did at the start.
For more on Hamilton’s future with the team, see Lewis Hamilton Stays for Ferrari in 2027 — What Is The News Today and Ferrari confirms Lewis Hamilton for 2027 — Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Contract 2027. Hamilton also picked up attention after Lewis Hamilton Gets Reprimand After Turn 9 Silverstone Yellow Flag Infringement.
