Fred Vasseur has made it clear that Ferrari’s decision to publicly address speculation over his future was not about soothing his own nerves. It was about stopping the noise from contaminating the team’s work.
Rumours surrounding Vasseur intensified during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend after former Red Bull chief Christian Horner suggested he would be interested in a role at Ferrari.
The inevitable speculation that followed linked Horner with Vasseur’s position, forcing the Scuderia to intervene before the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Ferrari subsequently staged a media call in which Vasseur received an unequivocal show of support from chairman John Elkann and CEO Benedetto Vigna. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton then publicly backed their team principal in Sepang.
For Vasseur, the need to address the issue was ultimately about restoring some calm around a team already under enormous scrutiny.
Ferrari needed to stop the noise
Asked why the media conference had been necessary, Vasseur pointed directly at the volume of speculation surrounding Ferrari.
“You have to ask your colleagues,” said the Frenchman. “When you see the noise and all the rumours in the press all the week, I think as a team we need to work in serenity. And it was absolutely not the case.
“And I think the statement, it was mandatory to do something, or it could have been the same this weekend. But honestly, the big issue that we have today is to put stability, put serenity into the team, the focus that we need to have – and not to have this kind of question all day.”
The intervention came as Hamilton described Vasseur as a “fantastic leader” but also suggested there were aspects of Ferrari’s structure he would change.
Vasseur did not reject the idea that Ferrari should continue evolving. Instead, he argued that constant improvement is simply part of running a Formula 1 team.
Vasseur rejects the blame game
“First of all, the structure of the team, I think as Flavio said before, in the individual recruitment, at least, it's a [never-ending] story,” he insisted. “I think that you have to improve. I think it's the DNA of what we are doing to not take a success as a final situation, but to try to improve in the good and the bad moments.
“And honestly, the dynamic that we have, we have recruited a lot, as have the other teams.
“On the comment of Lewis, I think it would be a mistake to finger point someone or something or whatever. In the good moment, we are winning as a team, in the bad moment, we are suffering as a team, and I don't want to speak about single individual or whatever.
“We had a good beginning of the season. But for sure, it's not enough. We want to get more, we want to win more, we want to win the championship. But at the end of the day, we had a positive start, we are struggling the last couple of races, but we are hoping to come back with development.”
Pressed on whether Ferrari’s organisational structure itself required changes, Vasseur was equally emphatic about the backing he receives from the top of the company.
“Honestly, the relationship that I have with my bosses, Benedetto and John, is a very good one. We are in daily contact, and I can't complain at all about the organization,” he said.
“But for sure, you always want to get more. You always want to do more. You always want to recruit more.
“But I think it's true for me, and it's true for everybody on the grid that you always want to do more because of the DNA of what we are doing. But honestly, it has nothing to do with the organisation.”
For Vasseur, then, the message from Ferrari was less about making a grand declaration and more about clearing the air. With development now the priority, he wants the Scuderia discussing performance rather than personalities.
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