Ferrari CEO’s latest hint that Vasseur will leave the team – As the newsprint moguls of London’s Fleet Street used to say, ‘today is a good day to bury bad news.’ These days are those when the rest of the world is consumed with some other drama which makes it easier to issue a negative press release which otherwise would have been the centre attention.
The all consuming news in Formula One over the past 24 hours has been the sacking of the third most successful F1 team boss in history. The Austrian men in grey suits have decided its time to bring the Red Bull Racing F1 team under their direct control.
The man who took F1 from racing in the muddy fields of Europe to the most annually watched sport in the world where the drivers compete in Cathedrals of Speed, Bernie Ecclestone was shocked by the suddenness of Horner’s dismissal. “It’s like he’s murdered somebody,’’ said the once F1 supremo on hearing the news.
Vasseur rumours continue to swirl
With this kind of drama whirling its way around the world of motorsport, it would be a good time for Ferrari to make up their mind over their current team principal. Were he to be sacked, as the Italian press continually suggest should happen, the impact on the Ferrari team will be way less intrusive than before the last day Christian Horner left the Milton Keynes factory.
Fred Vasseur is out of contract at the end of this season and the Italian media have accused the Ferrari group oversight of leaving the team in limbo. With the biggest set of regulation changes coming in 2026, both Ferrari and Red Bull must be ready with their leadership in tact for one of the most frenetic periods of time an F1 team will have experienced.
Just under a year ago, Ferrari were coming good after mid-season doldrums. They had the quickest car across the last six races of the year closing down McLaren from a deficit of 75 points after the Singapore Grand Prix to just 14 when the curtain came down in Abu Dhabi. Yet in a remarkable turn of events, Vasseur rubber stamped the decision for the engineers in Maranello to build a whole new car just for 2025 – the last year of the current set of design regulations.
Speaking at the Maranello festive gathering, Vasseur declared:“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.” Never mind the car being completely new, at the start of this season the Italian engineers looked to have built their very first F1 car – with all the expected foibles.
Ferrari CEO refuses to back Vasseur
The question remains unanswered as to why Ferrari didn’t evolve their super fast SF-24 for the final year of the current car design regulations, rather than go all in on a completely new design. There are some who believe the big change in the front suspension geometry was in fact a way for Ferrari to get ahead with some of the mechanical components which will carry over into 2026.
Whilst the power units and the aero packages will be radically different next year, the way a race car creates mechanical grip remains the same throughout time. If this is the case, Vasseur has used this year as a test bed for 2026 components and philosophies. Planning ahead is all part of the job an F1 team principal undertakes, but by the time the Ferrari F1 car comes good it might be too late for the Frenchman.
Veteran F1 writers in Italy, have called on Ferrari to either sack Vasseur or extend his current contract and there were signs this week that some kind of progress is being made which will lead to one of these two goals. In an interview with Sky Italia, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna praised the culture of togetherness within the F1 team although he refused to give assurances on the long term security of the team principal in situ.
“I like to come here and see the team united. I love being with people because they are the ones who always make the difference,” said Vigna. “Teams grow with difficulties. Unity is strength and in Ferrari this is there and I can breathe it here. “Vasseur’s future? He’s the team principal, it’s July and we’re discussing. We just had lunch together,” smiled the genial Italian.
Vasseur tight lipped
The comments made by Vigna could offer Fred Vasseur some hope, but they were hardly a vote of confidence in the Ferrari team boss. Contrast his words with that Toto Wolff talking about his drivers who are out of contract: “We have the best driver lineup in the world,” as the negotiations between Mercedes, Russell and Antonelli continue behind the scenes.
When asked about the nature of their “discussions”, Vasseur was tight lipped. “I have nothing to add about the discussion with Mr. Vigna,” he said. And again this did nothing to dampen down the speculation, that the Ferrari team under Vasseur are underachieving despite the monumental investment in bringing Lewis Hamilton to the team and has yet to make a podium on Sunday.
Last time out in Silverstone, Ferrari were again underwhelming. With Lewis Hamilton qualifying in fifth and his team mate one place further back, hopes for a better day on Sunday was the understanding in the garage. Yet come the British rains, much worse was to befall the team from Maranello.
A Silverstone shocker
The start was declared ‘wet’ by race control, so the drivers set off behind the safety car. A couple of reconnoissance laps later and a standing start was declared. Charles Leclerc was the first of the drivers to decide he would switch to dry weather tyres and start from the pit lane. George Russell followed him as did three or four others.
The decision was a bad one as the circuit was too wet and Charles Leclerc trailed home almost a lap down on the winner Lando Norris, meanwhile Lewis Hamilton faired a little better finishing in his best position of the year P4. That said there was an ugly passage of play which saw Hamilton in a Ferrari unable for lap after lap to pass the Stake Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg.
This was something else for the Tifosi to complain loudly about on social media. With not a single hint of encouragement from Ferrari’s CEO Vigna that his team principal is in his mind ‘doing a good job’ the hint is clear and it means dark times ahead for Fred Vasseur. If Ferrari act now, they’ll suffer less exposure than they would have done without the fallout from the sacking of Christian Horner.
Red Bull staff “gutted” as Milton Keynes protest walkout discussed
Christian Horner built the mighty Red Bull Racing Formula One team from the ashes of the Jaguar F1 programme. Aged just 31 he took on the role as team principal back in 2005 later recruiting guru car designer Adrian Newey who was disgruntled at McLaren.
In classic Red Bull style seen in other sports where the brand competes, the team was loud and proud as the new kids on the F1 block. Music would regularly blare from their garage in the early days with tunes such as “who let the dogs out” blasting away, as if to announce a revolution in the making.
In five short years Horner took the wreckage of the Ford owned team to compete for titles in 2010, as with Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull wiped the floor with the competition four years in a row. TJ13 has been close to a number of senior Red Bull staff based in Milton Keynes over the years and it has been fascinating the culture that Horner had been able to create…. 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.
