Lewis Hamilton insists Frederic Vasseur remains the right man to lead Ferrari but admitted he has no idea where the team sits in the pecking order after a difficult Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Scuderia have failed to build on strong early-season progress that delivered race wins for both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, with their second engine upgrade of the year failing to provide the hoped-for performance boost.
The Baku race proved symptomatic of the team's current struggles, as Leclerc slipped from second on the grid to finish outside the podium places while Hamilton made no progress. Pressure on Vasseur has intensified since Christian Horner publicly declared his desire to return to Formula One to lead the team.
Hamilton admits to 'no man's land'
Asked after the race if he is confident Ferrari are still on a good path under the Frenchman, Hamilton replied without hesitation: "Yes." But he remains downbeat about the current situation, having felt helpless throughout Saturday's Grand Prix.
He said: "I was in no man's land most of the time. It's not great, but it is what it is. There's not very much I can do."
As for Ferrari's current place in the pecking order, Hamilton added: "I don't know where we are. Third or second? I don't know. We're obviously not the second quickest at the moment, but we were ahead of McLaren [in Baku], so maybe we're third."
Leclerc warns of rivals' progress
McLaren's failure to score points allowed Ferrari to extend the gap between them to 72 points. Vasseur is expected to be safe as long as the team holds onto second place in the constructors' championship by the end of the year.
But Leclerc has sounded the alarm, worried that the two teams chasing them have made progress his outfit has not matched. He said: "Compared to the Red Bull, it was very difficult to defend because in the straight line we are too slow. We are just struggling with raw pace at the moment. The two Red Bulls were too quick and obviously George [Russell] was too strong as well.
"McLaren and Red Bull did a step forward with the upgrades they are bringing. They have grown recently, they did a step forward that we didn't do. And we must react, because losing some pace now is going to be very difficult to take it back. So hopefully we can react very soon."
Upgrade strategy under scrutiny
Ferrari have taken a little-and-often approach to their upgrades this year, bringing a small number of new parts to most races, while most others have deliberately waited to bring bigger packages. Mercedes have upgrades planned for Malaysia which they hope will put a performance gap between themselves and the chasing pack once again.
Leclerc said Ferrari also have "a few things coming", but added: "Whether it's going to be enough to close the gap, not knowing what the others have in store as well, is another matter. But, surely, we've got a few things that should help us do some steps forward."
