Vasseur once more defends a downcast Hamilton.

      "I believe he ran 70 percent of the race in front of Russell."

      Frederic Vasseur continues to support Lewis Hamilton during the seven-time world champion's openly acknowledged difficulties at Ferrari. According to Bild newspaper, the 40-year-old former Mercedes driver had to hold back tears before addressing the media following Sunday’s Spanish GP. Hamilton described it as "the worst race I’ve ever participated in." When asked for possible explanations from his engineers, he responded, "It was probably just me." However, Vasseur reprimanded a journalist for interpreting his British driver’s comments too quickly. "You have enough experience not to jump to conclusions after the driver’s initial remarks," the Frenchman stated. "I think he completed 70 percent of the race ahead of Russell, and I'm not certain Russell described the race as a disaster. The outcome wasn’t favorable," Vasseur added, "but the pace was decent, aside from the last stint. He experienced a notable decline in performance in the final segment of the race. I’m not sure if there was an issue there – we will need to investigate."