Ferrari boss claims Lewis Hamilton was faster than Charles Leclerc in the F1 Italian GP

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur claimed Lewis Hamilton was faster than his teammate Charles Leclerc during the 2025 Italian Grand Prix. It was an underwhelming weekend for the Italian team as they failed to finish on the podium in front of their Tifosi for the first time since 2021, with Leclerc coming home in P4 and Hamilton in P6.

The Monegasque was briefly in the podium position after he was battling against McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, but could not sustain the pressure from the latter and was overtaken in the first few laps of the race.

While Hamilton, who started the race from P10, made a couple of places off the start, but could not make further headway after getting P6 as he was unable to get past his ex-teammate and Mercedes driver George Russell.

However, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur believed that Lewis Hamilton was the faster driver between the two and showed good pace throughout the weekend, saying to Formula Passion:

“At the end of the day, Lewis' pace was better from the start compared to Charles'. During the race, he battled with Russell, which meant he was back in a better position. I think the energy he received from the fans on Wednesday in Milan was something very special for him. I think it gave him an extra boost over the weekend.”

It was Hamilton's second outing racing for the Maranello-based outfit in front of the roaring Tifosi, after initially experiencing the same in Imola.

Lewis Hamilton reflects on getting the love from Tifosi in Monza

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton stated that he was stoked with the love he received from the Tifosi during the Italian GP weekend and believed that it was "everything he's hoped for".

Speaking with F1.com, the seven-time F1 world champion reflected on the crowd and spoke about his "dream" to stand on the podium as a Ferrari driver:

“It’s everything you could ever hope for. Of course, you want to be fighting at the front but it’s unbelievable to just be on the receiving end. It’s Ferrari all the way around the track. You see the pit straight now, it’s as far as the eye can see. It’s a dream to drive for this team, and I’m really just going to work as hard as I can to one day stand on the top of that podium. That’s my dream.”

Commenting on his performance, the 40-year-old added:

“I’m genuinely quite happy with the overall performance, and I think that’s as good as we could have got."

Lewis Hamilton is yet to stand on a podium in the 2025 season with Ferrari, despite getting two podiums in Sprint formats, P1 in China, and P3 in Miami.