Fred Vasseur warns against Lewis Hamilton ‘distraction’ for Ferrari

Ferrari F1 boss Fred Vasseur does not want news of Lewis Hamilton’s impending arrival to become a “distraction” for the team in 2024.

Confirmation of Hamilton’s blockbuster decision to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari on a multi-year deal in 2025 stunned the F1 world earlier this month, and left incumbent Carlos Sainz without a drive for next year.

Speaking publicly about Hamilton’s arrival for the first time since the news broke following the launch of the SF-24 on Tuesday, Ferrari team principal Vasseur underlined his desire to maintain focus on the upcoming campaign.

“It’s a huge opportunity for the team for sure [signing Hamilton],” Vasseur told media including Crash.net.

“We are sure that he will bring us an additional step for the future and it will be a good challenge for everybody.

“But we want to focus on 2024. We don’t want to have any kind of distraction, which is why we made the announcement so early, because it was important for us to be focused on 2024.

“I’m fully convinced that Carlos will be fully dedicated and committed to the season, until the last lap and the last corner of the season and equally I am sure that the whole team will be fully motivated and fully behind Carlos.

“But it is important for us to be focused on 2024. We have a good opportunity. We worked so hard on the project that we don’t want to have any distractions.”

Asked how talks with Hamilton first came about, Vasseur, who was in charge of the ART Grand Prix team with whom Hamilton won the GP2 title in 2006, replied: “We have had a good relationship for a bit more than 20 years.

“We were always in contact to speak about things and it came naturally. It came step by step.”

Charles Leclerc, Hamilton’s next F1 teammate, revealed he has been exchanging texts with the seven-time world champion about the move.

And the Monegasque said he knew Hamilton would be joining Ferrari prior to signing his bumper contract extension.