Frederic Vasseur is again standing up for Lewis Hamilton after another difficult race for the seven-time world champion at Ferrari.
According to Bild, the 40-year-old was seen wiping away tears before facing the media following Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix — a race he described as "the worst I've ever taken part in in my life."
When asked whether Ferrari's engineers had any explanation for the lack of pace, Hamilton replied: "It was probably just me."
But Ferrari team principal Vasseur pushed back when a journalist questioned Hamilton's self-criticism.
"You have enough experience not to jump to conclusions after the driver's first words," said the Frenchman.
"I think he did 70 percent of the race ahead of (George) Russell, and I'm not sure Russell said the race was a disaster."
Vasseur admitted the overall result was disappointing but maintained that Hamilton's performance wasn't entirely off the mark.
"The result wasn't good," he acknowledged, "but the pace was ok, except for the last stint.
"He had a significant drop in performance in the final part of the race. I don't know if there was a problem there — we'll have to look at it."
