Fred Vasseur Hides Behind Lewis Hamilton’s Misery to Defend Charles Leclerc’s Dutch GP Debacle

New race week, but same old Ferrari. The Italian team suffered yet another disappointment during the Dutch GP even before the main race. Ferrari’s main man Charles Leclerc was forced out of the Q3 after his Ferrari kissed the barriers a little aggressively. The Monegasque’s red flag-causing incident forced him to retire from the qualifying and put him ninth on the starting grid for the race. Yet another disappointing outcome for Ferrari was surely going to raise some questions. So in his attempts to defend the team, TP Frederic Vassuer hid behind the botched qualifying session of Mercedes man Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes botched Hamilton’s qualifying which resulted in his P13 grid position for the race with poor timing. The Brit went too early on an out-lap during the dying embers of Q2 which forced him out. As quoted by Gazzetta, Vasseur used this scenario to highlight the unpredictable nature of the sport while defending Leclercl’s unfortunate qualifying.

Vasseur said, “They’re very close to each other – he said – something anomalous compared to just two or three years ago. Hamilton, for example, seemed to us to be fighting for pole and instead, he did the 13th fastest time. This consistency in the forecasts therefore seems to be lacking, not only in relation to Ferrari but with respect to all the teams. Monza? The last six weekends have been full of ups and downs, but this weekend’s result will not influence our GP home.” [Translated via Google]

The French boss was able to defend the botched qualifying this time around. However, unfortunately, these errors and mishaps have become a regular fixture for Ferrari and everyone is mocking the Italian team.

Read More: Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc & Lewis Hamilton Join Forces to Give Exactly Same Opinion on Max Verstappen’s Dominance

Even frustrated Leclerc is not taking things into his own hands and picking up mannerisms from Hamilton. In fact, Peter Windsor believes the Monegasque will be a perfect replacement for Hamilton at Mercedes.

Peter Windsor picks Charles Leclerc as the perfect man to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

We are witnessing a lot of young and exciting talent on the grid at the moment. Any of the drivers from the coming generation have the potential to become a world champion given the right opportunity. However, for Windsor, Leclerc is the right replacement for Hamilton at Mercedes.

Speaking on behalf of Toto Wolff, Windsor gave his unorthodox reasoning for picking Leclerc as Hamilton’s replacement.

He said, “I think Charles is such an interesting driver, in such an interesting time of his career because he’s very good, but he’s not looking very good. He’s obviously got issues going on in his head to do with all the stuff that comes with the dramas at Ferrari and everywhere else. For me, the challenge would be to get the best from Charles, and I would love to do that.”

Windsor believes the Monegasque’s management might make him a completely different man at Mercedes. The question remains if we will ever see this in practice.

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