Ferrari boss says what he really thinks about Lewis Hamilton amid F1 podium drought

Frederic Vasseur declared "Lewis is back" as he heaped praise upon his seven-time Formula 1 champion driver. That was despite Lewis Hamilton claiming an unwanted Ferrari record at the United States Grand Prix as he is now the first driver in the Scuderia's history to fail to stand on the podium in any of his first 19 Sunday races.

Didier Pironi previously held that record, the Frenchman having ended his barren run with victory at the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix held at Imola. Hamilton has won a Sprint race with Ferrari this season but has yet to reach the top three in any full-distance race.

But there were signs of promise at the US Grand Prix as Ferrari found their groove. Sunday's Austin race saw Hamilton put in one of his best performances yet since joining Ferrari and his improvement in recent weeks, even compared to his team-mate Charles Leclerc, has not gone unnoticed by his boss.

Team principal Vasseur said: "You need to have two cars. For us it's important, and if we want to maximise the number of points that we'll score until the end, we have to score with two cars for sure. Lewis is back - for two thirds of the weekend he was faster than Charles this weekend. It's good for the team."

Speaking after the race, Hamilton vowed to "keep trying" to end his podium drought as he reflected on what he described as "an amazing result for the team. He said: "Third and fourth, good points. It's great to finish ahead of the Mercedes team to get those points, and even ahead of one of the McLarens.

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"So definitely a positive, and I went forward even after a bad start, so lots and lots of positives to take from here. I think naturally I want to be further up, but just got to keep working at it. But we're definitely on the right path.

"Considering we've not been upgrading the car, for us to be in the fight shows that the team has done a really, really great job this weekend, so I hope everyone back at the factory is happy. We're definitely on the right path. I'm so close, still not got that podium, but I'll keep trying."

As for Vasseur, the Ferrari chief hopes his team's strong execution in Austin will be a platform for them to hit the ground running in Mexico City this weekend. The Frenchman said: "We had a very difficult Friday and a good recovery all over the weekend.

"The pace today was decent. We were aggressive on the strategy and in the end it paid off, but it was quite brave from Charles and the team. But I think it's good for us to have this kind of result and to attack Mexico in a much better shape."