Hamilton leads support for embattled Ferrari boss

The Scuderia sit in second place behind Mercedes in the team standings ahead of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Speculation linking former Red Bull chief Christian Horner with Vasseur's job has refused to die down, with the Frenchman complaining of being asked about him "25 times a day" in Baku.

Hamilton described Vasseur as "a fantastic leader" at a press briefing in Sepang on Thursday.

"There often seems to be a lot of focus on one individual, in one role, always here," the seven-time world champion said.

"You can see they've obviously switched out lots of different people in Fred's role, but Fred is a fantastic leader.

"He really is the guy to take this team in the right direction."

Leclerc dismissed what he called "silly rumours" about Vasseur's future.

"I've always said how much I trust Fred and how important he is for the team," he said.

Hamilton said Ferrari's structure could require consideration and stressed that Vasseur is not solely responsible for the team's fortunes.

"There are also people above Fred and it's not about one person," said Hamilton.

"For me, it's frustrating to see all the negativity.

"It's 10 times worse for some reason for Ferrari, but that's also to be expected given that it's the best brand here. It's the most iconic by far."