Frederick Vasseur confirms that Ferrari is not going to release Lewis Hamilton

The head of Scuderia Ferrari, Frederic Vasseurhas cleared up all doubts regarding the unconditional surrender to the reborn Lewis Hamilton and, in an interview he gave to Corriere della Sera, he confirmed the renewal of the 41-year-old driver for one more season.

When asked directly by the journalist whether “Can we announce it: will Hamilton also stay in 2027?”, the Ferrari boss responded with a forceful “Yes”, thus settling the rumors that discussed Hamilton’s continuity at Ferrari.

Vasseur has made self-criticism regarding the arrival of ‘Sir Lewis’ to Maranello. “Last year I underestimated the importance of the transition from Mercedes to Ferrari. Everything was new for him, and Lewis is not one of those drivers who changes teams every two or three years, like Sainz. Now he knows the tools, the people and our approach. And with the good results, he has entered a positive spiral,” he assured. 2025 was a real ordeal for the 44, who suffered in his adaptation to the previous generation of ground effect cars, with the addition of Charles Leclerc proving to be much superior.

And he clarifies the question if they have built a custom car for Hamilton? that “No, we do not make custom F1 cars for one driver or another. At most, the cars can be created following the drivers’ instructions; their opinion is important, but we are talking about minimal differences.”

Hamilton demands the team in all aspects, something that Vasseur likes: “It’s the job of every driver; even Charles demands the team on a daily basis. But we also signed Lewis because of the experience he brought.”

It also addresses the Leclerc case, whose “multi-year” renewal (beyond 2030) was announced on June 3: “It is a difficult moment for Leclerc and I face it by being close to him and trying to understand how to help him and why he is having difficulties.”

“It’s definitely not a question of speed: in Monte Carlo and Barcelona he fought for pole in qualifying, and last week in Austria he started from the front row. He simply has to coordinate himself over several laps, adapt to the new car, the latest updates and the new brakes. And, above all, he has to stay calm. I’m not worried at all. There are a lot of people helping him.”