It is no secret how much Lewis Hamilton respects Frederic Vasseur, and the two of them go way back. Vasseur was the manager of the teams Hamilton raced for during his F3 and GP2 days. After attaining a great deal of success in F1, the Briton revealed the crucial qualities he developed under the French manager’s tutelage.
In his biography, Lewis Hamilton: Triple World Champion, Frank Worrall quotes the Mercedes driver, “Yes, I had a great couple of years with both of them (Jean Todt and Fred Vasseur). I think I learned a lot from my engineers there because they run a fantastic two teams in F3 and GP2. They really gave me a good understanding technically, because when you get into Formula One you really have to have a great knowledge of the car to be able to communicate with your team. That’s what I learned from those teams.”
Before joining Vasseur at ASM in F3, Hamilton only managed a P5 finish in the previous season. It was the future Ferrari manager’s guidance that led him to win the championship that season. In 2006, the Briton moved to ASM’s sister team ART in F2 and won the championship in his very first season.
Fred Vasseur on Lewis Hamilton: “I talk to him at every GP, he raced for me twenty years ago and we’re still close. I helped him when he went to McLaren at the start of his F1 career.” ❤️ pic.twitter.com/7NHQylivum
— deni (@fiagirly) September 18, 2023
The duo, despite allegiances to different teams in F1, never lost touch. In fact, Vasseur admitted to having conversations with Lewis every week for the last 20 years.
In an interview back in the day, they asked Hamilton if he wanted to be the youngest F1 driver. He replied in negative, revealing his priority to be learning and gaining as much experience as he could before making his F1 debut. Incidentally, that is exactly what McLaren was doing with him through Vasseur.
The grueling regime Lewis Hamilton went through before F1 breakthrough
Hamilton spent 9 years under McLaren’s tutelage before Ron Dennis finally decided it was time for his big break. To ready the next big thing in F1, Ron arranged for a $22 million simulator for Lewis to practice on before making his F1 debut. The future 7-time champion practiced for 6 months on the rig before earning the super rookie tag.
The money and time spent on the Briton proved to be worth it as Hamilton finished just 1 point behind world champion Kimi Raikkonen in his rookie season. The very next year, he overcame whatever deficit there was to bag his first of 7 world championship titles.
The way Lewis Hamilton rebuilt Mercedes in 2013 & 2014 isn’t talked about enough pic.twitter.com/TWQEpvln0J
— (/.\) (@vorestappen) July 18, 2022
Success, however, went into stagnation mode after that triumph. Hamilton, however, soldiered on with McLaren until patience gave out in 2013. What came as a shock, he made a switch to an underperforming Mercedes, replacing Michael Schumacher. The questionable move turned out to be the best decision of his career as Mercedes gave him the cars to add 6 more championships to his tally.
Currently, Hamilton is tied with the legend he replaced at Mercedes on the championship count. The Briton is far from satisfied though. His biggest motivation for carrying on at 38 is to bag that 8th world title.
