Fred Vasseur believes Lewis Hamilton's arrival at Ferrari will help Charles Leclerc develop as a driver from the 2025 F1 season.
Hamilton announced in February that he would join Ferrari on a multi-year deal from next season as Leclerc's teammate, replacing Carlos Sainz.
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The British driver's change marks the end of one of the most successful team-driver partnerships in F1 history, with Hamilton winning six of seven world championships with Mercedes since joining from McLaren in 2013. .
The announcement of the deal with Hamilton comes seven days after Leclerc, who has emerged as one of the best drivers on the grid since joining from Sauber in 2019, put pen to paper on a new multi-year deal. Ta.
It remains to be seen how the arrival of a driver of Hamilton's stature will affect Leclerc, but Leclerc builds a consistent advantage over Sainz despite taking 23 pole positions with Ferrari He struggled to win, and has only won five times in his career.
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Vasseur has been reluctant to discuss Hamilton's impending arrival in detail and lashed out at reporters who asked questions about the seven-time world champion at the recent Japanese Grand Prix.
It happened the same weekend, when Hamilton himself lost patience with a journalist who asked him about his future at Ferrari, retorting: “Don't you have a better question?”
However, Vasseur spoke passionately about what Hamilton will bring to the team in an interview with Radio France, insisting the 39-year-old's winning experience is crucial to Ferrari's development.
He claimed that seven-time world champion Hamilton is an “absolute master” at maintaining peak performance and that Leclerc could learn something from him.
He said: “The arrival of Lewis Hamilton? It's important for the team.
“Beyond speed, bring serenity to the team and experience the track record. The experience of winning is also necessary for Ferrari to move forward.
“I'm also very happy because I was sure that the two of us would get along well.'' I ended up helping Charles, the driver.
“It's not just the performance of the car in qualifying or the race. It's 365 days a year and I think Lewis is an absolute master in this respect.”
Vasseur's comments come after 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve warned Leclerc that he faces a make-or-break season with Hamilton in 2025.
Villeneuve said: “Charles was brought in from Sauber saying, 'Well, he's a champion,' so he was brought to Ferrari as a champion even though he wasn't a champion.”
“No, that doesn't work because he was hitting someone with a cart or something. He still has to prove it.
“He's shown very fast speed and he's shown that he's super fast, but he wasn't the one who won the race with Ferrari last year.
“So it will be interesting to see how it balances out within Ferrari.
“This will be the difference between victory and defeat for Charles, not for Lewis.”
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