Remarkable Ferrari admission over reason for retaining Vasseur. As Formula One entered the summer break, the usual contractual dance between Toto Wolff and his drivers was set to continue. Both Russell and Antonelli are out of contract come the end of this season, and as was the case last tome driver contracts were awarded, no white smoke is expected in Brackley before racing resumes at the end of the month.
Yet in a surprise move, Ferrari announced they had extended their team bosses tenure in Maranello with the proverbial “multi-year” deal announced intended to project some stability to the Ferrari team. Fred Vasseur had increasingly come under fire in the Italian media for failing to deliver on the team’s 2024 end of season promise, where they had the fastest car across the final two triple header weekends.
Leclerc and Sainz closed down a 79 point gap to McLaren which is existed with six race weekends of the year remaining. They and the team came up just 14 points short, of claiming the constructors’ championship for the first time since 2008.
Vasseur under fire for lack of performance
Ferrari elected to build a completely new car, whilst others decided in the final year of this set of regulations, evolution not revolution was in fact the way to go with their 2025 challengers. And whilst Fred Vasseur persists in pointing out to the F1 media that the team is in second place behind McLaren, the executives at Ferrari believe the 299 points deficit to the papaya liveried team is ‘embarrassing.’
Further, both Red Bull and Mercedes are like a racing pigeon missing a wing. Whilst Verstappen and Russell are competing well each weekend, their team mates are way below par. By way of contrast, Ferrari have a solid driver lineup who besides the debacle in China, have scored points in every round bar Leclerc in Silverstone and Hamilton in Hungary.
Mercedes have eight non-points scoring results and Red Bull a whopping twelve, with Verstappen only adding to the tally in Austria. On this basis Ferrari should be further away from their two arch rivals, and their current lead of the silver arrows is just 24 points.
With the executives in Maranello under fire from a number of veteran Italian F1 writers demanding the bosses either back Vasseur or sack him, it appears the likes of John Elkann finally heeded the call. The Ferrari president has been besotted with Christian Horner and his Red Bull success over the years and so when the Red Bull boss was sacked, there appeared to be another opportunity to lure Horner to Maranello.
Sky F1 presenter believes Vassseur will fail
Yet Horner is going nowhere quickly, with his executive powers removed he remains an employee of the Red Bull energy drinks empire. With over five years remaining on his contract worth some £20m a season, it will take some months for his ‘payoff’ to be agreed with the Austrians.
One key date is in January, when the female employee who accused Horner last season of “inappropriate behaviour” will have her claim heard by an English employment tribunal. The Red Bull boss was exonerated following an investigation into the matter and again after the subsequent appeal.
Given John Elkann recruited Lewis Hamilton to the team, it has been reported in Italy that the British driver’s unwavering support for his team boss swayed the Ferrari presidents mind to exit the Frenchman. It was also of note, that the rivals of the Scuderia were all supportive of his claim to the team principal role.
Yet on hearing the announcement Sky F1’s lead commentator, David Croft was asked whether he though Vasseur was the man to finally break the almost two decades of championship drought. “No. And I don’t mean that in a nasty, negative way. No, I don’t think he will because I don’t think I’m hearing anything in terms of next season from the engine side of Ferrari that makes me feel they’ve got the best engine.
‘No one wanted Ferrari top job’
“And next year is an engine formula, it’s a fuel formula. So, however good Fred Vasseur is, unless he could design a championship-winning fuel and a championship-winning engine, he’s not going to deliver that championship,” concluded Croft. This will be worrying news for Lewis Hamilton, who having failed to get to grips with the ground effect era of F1 cars, would be hoping the all new 2026 regulations would deliver something more to his liking.
Longer term this will become a big problem for the executives in Maranello, given Adrian Newey has predicted whichever team/powertrain aces the new design rules, is likely to dominate for another 2-3 years. “There has to be a big chance that it’s an engine formula at the start,” Newey told Auto Motor und Sport earlier this year. “There has to be a chance that one manufacturer will come out well on top, and it will become a power-unit-dominated regulation,” he suggested.
Should Ferrari arrive next season in deficit again, the night of the long knives will surely begin again in Italy. Veteran F1 writer Joe Saward is now insisting in his latest version of the ‘green book’ nobody else other than Vasseur in fact wanted the job as Ferrari boss.
Having seen how a life long Ferrari engineer Mattia Binotto was evicted after just three seasons, the senior members of the leadership team in Maranello clearly believe the role as boss is a poisoned chalice. He cites evidence of a ‘lack of support’ for Vasseur from the ‘higher up’ at Ferrari yet the lack of another candidate at short notice together with Hamilton’s pressure to retain the Frenchman, sees Vasseur fully in charge at least until Horner’s contactual difficulties are resolved.
Hamilton quitting would see Bearman promoted
Following the Hamilton meltdown in Hungary, the Italian media have been reporting on a Ferrari response should the British driver decided to suddenly quit the team. The number one favourite is Ferrari former academy driver, Oliver Bearman, who impressed when standing in for Carlos Sainz last year in Saudi Arabia.
With the Spaniard stricken with appendicitis Bearman stepped into the car on Saturday morning, qualified just outside the top ten and came home seventh in the Grand Prix ahead of the likes of Norris and Hamilton. Ex-top gear presenter believes Hamilton’s days are numbered. “I’m just waiting for Lewis to retire so Ollie Bearman can get in a Ferrari. That’s what I want. Sorry Lewis fans,” he said to the lovecast podcast. “I don’t think he’s ever going to get the eighth. He obviously should have had it as we all know, but we won’t go there again for now!”
Hamilton’s decision on his future will rest on whether he can compete more frequently with his team mate. He may hang on in there for 2026, on the hope Ferrari pull the rabbit from the hat and deliver a car as dominant as McLaren are this season.
MORE F1 NEWS – F1 driver backs Hamilton to make Leclerc’s life “complicated”
Lewis Hamilton had a weekend to forget at the last Formula One outing before the summer break. He failed to make it out of Q2 in qualifying and started and finished the Grand Prix in twelfth place. Hamilton publicly lambasted his won efforts, although there are some in the paddock who believe this was all for show.
‘How could the seven times champion now be useless?’ begins this premise. ‘Surely its got to be Ferrari who are the problem,’ swiftly comes the answer to the conspiracy theory. And there are indicators all is not well in Maranello with one grande of the Scuderia claiming his contacts within the team reveal “90% of engineers” didn’t want Hamilton signing.
Add to this that John Elkann was waxing lyrical in Budapest, reflecting on Ferrari’s former glory he attributed that distant success to the all individuals submitting to the team. Well clearly there’s no glory for Ferrari currently and the simple implication is that there’s disharmony back at HQ which is the reason for the team’s current plight…. 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.
