Ferrari Formula 1 team boss Fred Vasseur has revealed his rather surprising reaction to Lewis Hamilton’s frustration following his up-and-down weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix last time out.

The seven-time world champion has endured a difficult start to life at the Scuderia following his off-season switch from Mercedes, and hasn’t been shy in sharing his disappointment.

His fifth-place finish in Sakhir was his best of the season in a grand prix to date as he continues to get to grips with his new machinery.

Hamilton cut a dejected figure at several points across last weekend – particularly after delivering a poor performance in qualifying – but Vasseur insists he was happy that the 40-year-old was angered by his own display.

“It’s good to have Lewis with this mindset, ‘I have to improve also myself, and to adapt myself to the car’, and we will adapt the car to Lewis but he had to do a step,” reported Sky Sports F1. “This is done in a positive way and a very constructive way between us.

“The fact he was a bit down yesterday evening, I like it.”

Vasseur: Hamilton needs time

The Frenchman believes it will take time for Hamilton to make the readjustment, but is confident that fans will soon see the best of him.

“You won’t replace 12 years of collaboration in two weeks or in two races,” the Ferrari boss said.

“For sure, we need to improve but this is true for everybody in the team, in the paddock, that the DNA for our sport is to try to do a better job.

“In F1 today, if you make a mistake you lose six or seven positions. That was not the case three or four years ago.

“We have to stay calm in terms of judgment of the performance, because sometimes, for almost nothing, you can change a good weekend into a very poor one.

“I appreciated the direction of Lewis on Saturday and I did my best to push him a little bit, and on Sunday he was in very good shape.”

Hamilton has made no secret of his desire to get back in contention for world titles having experienced a demoralising final few years to his time at Mercedes.

But his chances of achieving that dream – this season at least – appear all but over, with McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri already looking a class apart.

Attention now turns to this weekend’s Saudi Arabia GP, where Hamilton won in 2021, as he looks to finally get his Ferrari career up and running.

However, the weekend in Jeddah has hardly got off to an ideal start for the British star after a P8 finish in FP1 before dropping further down the order to finish FP2 in P1, before then only qualifying seventh.