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Vasseur '2000%' behind Hamilton amid early Ferrari struggles

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1 daysMotorsport

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur insisted he will be "2000%" behind Lewis Hamilton as they aim to turn around his early-season struggles.

Hamilton finished seventh at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, failing to move up any places after qualifying, and was 31 seconds behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who crossed the line in third.

The 40-year-old is seventh in the drivers' standings, 68 points behind leader Oscar Piastri, and has shown open frustration with his performances since his blockbuster move from Mercedes to Ferrari.

Hamilton called his performance in Jeddah on Sunday "horrible", but Vasseur was quick to jump to his defence, and is determined to help change his fortunes.

"I will be 2000% behind him," he said. "I will give him support, and we will start to try to find solutions and reasons and to work on it.

"But honestly, I am not too worried. If you have a look on what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain or even on the first part of the session [in Saudi Arabia], the potential is there for sure.

"We just have to adjust the balance because we are, collectively, Lewis and us. We are struggling with the balance of his car and [how] he is working the tyres.

"It's a kind of negative spot, but I think the potential of the car is there, and we will try to solve that."

Hamilton's best performances this season saw him take sprint pole and victory in China, with his highest finish in qualifying also coming that weekend as he got fifth.

Asked how Hamilton's form had fallen so “dramatically”, Vasseur hit back.

"It's not dramatically," he added. "We did five races so far.

"I know that you want to have the big headlines tomorrow that 'Fred said this'.

"But this is f****** b******t. At the end of the day, we are in competition. You have ups and downs.

"When we have up, we are not world champions. When we have down, we are not nowhere. It's just a competition."