Having seen his driver qualify second at the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur was forced to return home on Saturday evening, citing “personal reasons.” Having weathered the storm of Italian media criticism this year, paddock whispers quickly returned to the suggestion that the Ferrari team principal was being recalled to Maranello to face the sack.
Of course even Ferrari who have had five team bosses in 10 years are not that crazy to sack their manager after the team’s best qualifying result of the year so far. Further with back to back race weekends and the British Grand Prix just days away, the disruption sacking Fred Vasseur would be significant.
Yet when the Ferrari team boss disappears mid-way through a race weekend with not proper explanation, the Italian writers once again found this to be a source of evidence there is chaos at Ferrari. In fact the reasons from Vasseur’s unexpected departure from the paddock in Austria was discovered by an eagle eyed reddit contributor, claims to have found evidence of an obituary for Vasseur’s mother who passed away age 76.
Vasseur’s big mistake
This makes much more sense than some notion of a last minute crisis meeting called by Ferrari directors with Fred Vasseur being recalled to participate. Yet it is true that the Frenchman’s contract with Ferrari runs out this year, and so far there has been no indication as to how the group directors see the future.
As TJ13 has reported repeatedly this season, Vasseur’s biggest crime was to ditch their 2024 machine which had proven the quickest over the final quarter of the year. Across the two triple header weekends, the Scuderia had closed down a gap of 75 points to McLaren to just 14 when the final chequered flag of the campaign fee in Abu Dhabi.
Further, in the final year of a set of car design regulations, revolution is rarely a strategy used by F1 teams when designing their car. Yet speaking proudly at the Maranello festive party, Vasseur revealed to all: “Sometimes you don’t realise you’re taking risks until afterward. The car will be completely new; I think we’ll have less than 1% of the parts in common with the 2024 car.”
Now almost half a season later, Ferrari are getting to grips with their so far difficult SF-25 but McLaren with their evolution of their 2024 car, are already in the home straight. This error alone is enough to get Vasseur sacked yet for now the reasoning being muttered internally is that Ferrari were spending a year with a new suspicion layout, ready for 2026.
Ferrari use 2025 to test
Ferrari did consider switching their rear suspension layout in 2024 to match that of the Red Bull push rod system, but rejected in preferring their own “innovation.” Yet for this year the team have switched front suspension geometry philosophies switching from push rod to pull rod in an effort to improve aerodynamic performance along with better anti-drive characteristics.
Since the switch Ferrari have been tinkering with their suspension for most of the season and when asked at the Emilia Grand Prix his reasoning for this Vasseur replied: “We are working on all the areas of the car, mainly on mechanical, because it’s something that we can carry over to try to get a better performance over the season.
Of course the aero packages of the 2026 cars will be radically different and so there will be little carry over for these components along with the underfloor on the next generation of F1 cars. Yet a year of testing mechanical components in an effort to get ahead of the field remains a questionable target for 2025.
All this considered, the pressure in Italy remains on the Ferrari team who with almost half a season complete, are the only top four F1 outfit not to have won a race. Veteran Italian F1 writer, Leo Turini last week called on the directors of Ferrari to pt up or shut up. His line of thinking is with 2026 around the corner, the team need certainty in its leadership.
Longevity? Or time for another change?
So if Fred Vasseur is not the right man to lead Ferrari into the future, he should be replaced immediately – if he is, a new contract agreed and announced with some urgency reasoned the La Stampa columnist.
Lewis Hamilton weighed in on behalf of his new boss at the Canadian Grand Prix, in an impassioned plea which felt almost rehearsed he concluded, “Fred is the right person to take us back to the top.” Now Mercedes boss Toto Wolff adds his two penneth on the matter stating: “Yeah, it seems to be a bit of a revolving door with teams,” Wolff told assembled media. “Generally Christian [Horner] and I are the only dinosaurs left with many of you in the room.”
Wolff continued, “I think [that] in Formula 1, you can’t buy time, and you need to give senior leadership the time to get on top of things.” The conversation turned to Ferrari’s most long serving and most successful team principal Jean Todt. A Frenchman like Vasseur, he joined the Scuderia in 1993, but it was 1999 before Ferrari claimed glory in the constructors’ championship, before completing a five year run where Schumacher won the drivers’ title race and the team won the constructors’.
Seven long years before Todt saw success for F1’s most iconic team and Vasseur is presently in his third year in Italy. Wolff humbly notes the fall from grace of his own Mercedes team. Once all conquering for the best part of a decade, the team is in its fourth season with no hope of championship glory.
Vote of confidence from Toto Wolff
“Look at us: I’m not enjoying, you know, being in a phase that is the third year in a row where we are not fighting for a championship. We have really good weekends, we’re winning races, it’s respectable at times — and when it’s not good, no one is questioning, in a way, whether the top guy is doing a good job or not.”
Toto notes the Italian fanaticism for their national Formula One team, but also how that quickly turns to criticism and pressure when the Scuderia are not winning races. “That’s how Italy is, and that’s fantastic. That’s the passion that is in there. You gotta embrace that. And maybe that’s something he needs to do. But the rest, he should be given the confidence running his team. They won’t get anybody better.”
This is the second vote of confidence the Ferrari boss has received across two race weekends. The first from Hamilton in Canada and now from his Mercedes arch rival Toto Wolff. Leo Turini hit the nail on the head. It is the Ferrari group board which needs to act. Either extend Vasseurs contract immediately or sack him and announce the next individual who is next to take on the sleeping giant that is the Ferrari F1 team.
Verstappen breaks silence on crash which took him out
The fallout from the Austrian Grand Prix continued long after the chequered flag fell, but Max Verstappen, now 61 points behind in the title race, refuses to let anger cloud his judgement. After retiring for the first time this season since Melbourne, the Dutchman opened up about the lap-one incident at Turn 3, where he was rear-ended by Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli. His reaction? Surprisingly composed.
Verstappen’s start in Spielberg finally offered a glimmer of hope. After two lacklustre starts, the Red Bull driver finally got off the grid cleanly and was looking to make early gains from seventh place on the grid. But that promise evaporated within seconds…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
