Ferrari ‘annoyed’ by ‘whining’ Lewis Hamilton with Vasseur comments under scrutiny
Ferrari has become “annoyed” with what the team perceives as Lewis Hamilton’s “whining” over the course of the F1 2025 season.
That is the claim of former Williams and McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who believes the team only want Hamilton for marketing reasons.
Montoya: Ferrari ‘just want Lewis Hamilton for his name’Hamilton has had an unhappy first season at Ferrari having failed to score a podium across the first half of the F1 2025 campaign.
Although he is understood to be under contract until at least the end of 2026, Hamilton appeared to cast doubt over his own future at the recent Hungarian Grand Prix.
After qualifying a distant 12th on a day team-mate Charles Leclerc claimed Ferrari’s first pole position of F1 2025, Hamilton repeatedly referred to himself as “useless” before suggesting that Ferrari should consider replacing him.
Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc: Ferrari head-to-head scores for F1 2025👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
The seven-time World Champion later alluded to potential trouble behind the scenes at Ferrari, commenting: “There’s a lot going on in the background that’s not great.”
Hamilton even briefly raised doubts over his participation in the rest of this season, quipping that he will “hopefully” be back in action when F1 2025 resumes at the Dutch Grand Prix, before insisting that the “fight’s not over – don’t count me out.”
Hamilton’s cryptic comments in Hungary came just a week after the 40-year-old spoke at length of his desire to make a success of his Ferrari career, revealing that he has submitted a series of “documents” to propose changes to the team and the car.
Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at the Belgian Grand Prix, Hamilton said that his willingness to “go the extra mile” is driven by his “refusal” to follow in the footsteps of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, established champions who failed to win the title with Ferrari.
Earlier this week, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur raised concerns over Hamilton’s approach to tackling his 2025 issues.
In an interview with Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, Vasseur claimed that Hamilton “sometimes exaggerates the problems he sees in the car.”
Vasseur went on to argue that Hamilton’s “extreme” reaction in the media only makes matters “worse”, claiming that the driver is “too hard” on both himself and the car.
Montoya, who claimed seven wins in 94 F1 starts between 2001 and 2006, believes that the recent comments made by Hamilton and Vasseur are a sign of tension between team and driver with Ferrari growing “tired” of Hamilton’s “whining.”
He told a gambling platform: “My point of view of what he is saying is that Ferrari are not really paying attention to him and they just want him there for his name.
“I think he’s pushing and maybe people are getting annoyed at how hard he’s pushing and maybe getting tired of what they see as his whining.
“He is trying to move the world by himself. And I think he needs more people in his corner to be able to get more done.”
It is unclear if relations between Hamilton and Vasseur, who oversaw the driver’s title-winning GP2 season as boss of the ART Grand Prix team in 2006, have become strained as the F1 2025 campaign has developed.
In the aftermath of the Miami Grand Prix in May, Hamilton revealed publicly that he told Vasseur to “calm down” and “don’t be so sensitive” after a race in which he was heard having a number of tense exchanges with his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, over team radio.
The pair were also spotted having an animated discussion inside Ferrari’s hospitality unit after the race in Florida (below).
However, Hamilton spoke in support of Vasseur when reports emerged at the Canadian Grand Prix in June that the team boss’s position was under threat, claiming the Frenchman is “the main reason” he joined Ferrari.
Vasseur went on to sign a multi-year contract extension with Ferrari on the eve of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton said in Montreal: “Firstly, I love working with Fred.
“Fred’s the main reason I’m in this team and I got the opportunity to be here – for which I’m forever grateful.
“We’re in this together. We’re working hard in the background.
“Things aren’t perfect. But as I said, I’m here to work with the team and with Fred. I want Fred here.
“I do believe Fred is the person to take us to the top, and so that’s that.”
More on Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari from PlanetF1.comMontoya’s comments come after former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone claimed that Hamilton’s “political” response to his F1 2025 woes is “typical” of the former Mercedes driver.
Ecclestone, who recently argued that Hamilton is “cheating himself” by sticking around in F1, questioned Ferrari’s decision to replace Carlos Sainz with the seven-time World Champion.
Asked how frustrating it is to witness Ferrari’s current struggles, Ecclestone said: “It is quite incredible.
“Ferrari worked well under the leadership of Jean Todt, when he brought Michael [Schumacher] and many other personnel from Benetton.
“At the moment, I cannot say anything negative about the Italian staff working for Ferrari.
“But I think the team needs someone to take charge, find the right direction and get the job done.
“I am not sure that taking Lewis was the right decision.
“Lewis is obviously talented, but a little bit political, which is typical for Ferrari and typical for him.
“But he could come to life again which would be good for him and good for Ferrari.”
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