MONTREAL - Lewis Hamilton dismissed rumors that Ferrari could be looking to sack team principal Fred Vasseur, calling them "nonsense" and saying "most people don’t know what’s going on in the background."
"It's definitely not nice to hear that there are stories like that out there," Hamilton told reporters during Thursday's news conference at the Canadian Grand Prix. "Firstly, I love working with Fred. Fred's the main reason I'm in this team and I got the opportunity to be here – for which I'm forever grateful. We're in this together."
Reports Thursday coming from Italy suggested Vasseur's job could be in jeopardy for 2026. Vasseur and Ferrari appeared to be building momentum after a 2024 season in which the Italian team finished just 14 points off McLaren for the constructors' title. However, expectations for 2025 haven't matched reality.
Ferrari is second in the constructors race but already 197 points behind McLaren. Despite the setback, Hamilton said he believes Vasseur is "the person to take us to the top."
"To me, it's all nonsense what people have written," Hamilton explained. "Most people don't know what’s going on in the background. It isn’t all easy, like, it's not the smoothest sailing. We are having to make changes and there's a lot of work to do. Naturally there's a lot of pressure because we want to win, but that's not any part of the discussion at the moment."
He added: "I'm here to win with Fred. He has my full support."
The seven-time world champion, who is in his first season with Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, was also combative against talk that he could stop racing in the near future.
"I'm here for several years, and I'm here for the long haul," Hamilton said. "There's no question where my head's at and what I'm working towards achieving with this team. So, there's zero doubts. Please stop making stuff up."
Thursday's rumors about Vasseur come after buzz last month that Ferrari was courting Christian Horner, though the Red Bull team boss responded by reiterating his commitment to his current team.
