Fred Vasseur has no concerns about the commitment of Carlos Sainz for the 2024 season

Vasseur admitted the call to Sainz to let him know the team had signed Sir Lewis Hamilton for 2025 was one of the most difficult he's had to make in his life and commended the Spaniard for his professionalism.

Sainz has been with Ferrari since 2021 and has done a good job while there but the chance to sign Hamilton proved too good for them to turn down.

He has already spoken out, saying it was not the best way to start a new season but reiterating his commitment to do his best for Ferrari this year.

Vasseur revealed the reason why they announced the Hamilton signing so early was so that they would not have any distractions when this season began.

“We are fully focused on 2024, as you can imagine,” said Vasseur on the F1 website.

"[But regarding] Lewis, it’s a huge opportunity for the team, for sure. We’re sure it will bring us a decent step for the future. It will be a good challenge for everybody.

"But we want to be focused on 2024, we don’t want to have any kind of distraction, and that’s why we made the announcement so early because it was important for us to be focused on 2024.

“I’m fully convinced Carlos will be fully dedicated and fully committed until the last lap and the last corner of the season. I’m sure that all of the team will be fully motivated and fully behind Carlos, he has done a great job for us so far.

"Now it’s important for us to be focused on 2024. We have a good opportunity. We’ve worked so hard on the project that I don’t want to have any kind of distraction.”

The Frenchman also spoke about his conversation with Sainz, admitting it was a tough conversation to have.

“As you can imagine, it was not the easiest call of my life,” he said.

“One of the most difficult, with the one with Toto Wolff. But I’m fully convinced that he is a very professional driver, and that he understands that we have a long season in front of us, a huge opportunity.

“In this situation the team behind is him. We had a long discussion, and as you can imagine, I will be fully supportive of Carlos. He’s fully committed and we know that we are to do the job together. We are professional.”

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