Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has reacted angrily to media speculation about his future – claiming it is ‘disrespectful’ and has ended up ‘hurting’ the team.
Vasseur has found himself at the centre of a spotlight at the Canadian Grand Prix after reports in Italian newspapers Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere della Sera both suggested on Thursday that he was at risk of being dropped if results do not turn around.
Ferrari itself rubbished the stories and said that they were not even worth commenting on.
In a defiant stance during Friday’s official team principals’ press conference in Montreal, Vasseur went on the offensive against those stirring up the speculation.
His biggest annoyance was not that he himself was being placed under scrutiny – but more the wider impact it was having on his staff and the wider Ferrari squad.
“I have to stay calm because I’ll have to finish with the stewards!” he said, in remarks that clearly pointed to him wanting to swear about the situation.
“It’s some Italian media, it’s not all Italian media. It’s not about myself, because this I can manage. It’s more about the people of the team.
“To throw their name like this, it’s just disrespectful for them, for the family. We had the case last year with the chief of aero, we had some other names this season. I don’t know the target, I don’t understand the target. Perhaps it’s to give shit to the team.
“But in this case I don’t see the point [of journalists writing these stories]. Perhaps for them, it’s the only way to exist. This is probably more the reason.”
The reference to Ferrari’s aero chief is about incorrect reports in Italy last year that the team had done a deal to lure Red Bull’s head of aerodynamics Enrico Balbo to replace its incumbent.
Vasseur acknowledged that being scrutinised by the media was part and parcel of being team principal at Ferrari, but he felt that the effects of some stories were too much.
“It’s clearly hurting the team. At one stage it’s a lack of focus. And when you are fighting for the championship every single detail makes the difference. And from the beginning of the weekend we are just speaking about this.
“If it’s their target to put the team in this situation, they reach their goal. It’s not like this [that] we will be able to win the championship, at least not with these kinds of journalists around us.”
Vasseur is adamant that the distraction Ferrari faces from such media speculation is in contrast to how some of the squad’s rivals are left alone to get on with their job.
“Each time you have a kind of distraction or issue internally you are losing a little bit the focus, the path of the season,” he said.
“I have a feeling the teams in the UK are more on their own and a bit more focused on what they are doing. The best example for me is McLaren.
“They had in '22, a very harsh season, they were at the back - but they were focused, worked on their own and improved step by step. It’s what every single team wants to do…and the most important is to be able to do your own job and it’s sometimes where we are struggling a little bit.”
While Vasseur allowed himself to smile at times during his press conference appearance – even joking about auditioning for a new job through a cameo appearance in the new F1 movie – it was clear that the Frenchman was in a far from jovial mood about things.
Having been travelling to Montreal from Le Mans on Thursday when the stories broke in Italian media, Vasseur had not had the chance to address factory staff and deny the reports.
He plans to resolve that at the start of next week.
And he claimed that he had not been asked about any potential staffing changes at Ferrari.
“Yeah I’m going on Monday morning to see the guys and say ‘guys it’s not true’,” he said. “But I’m not a fireman at the end of the day.
“And it’s just a matter of respect. We are fully open with them. If someone has to ask a question about recruitment, I’ll say no I can’t speak or yes. In this case I would have said no way.
“The person we are speaking about of last year [Balbo], I had to Google the name of the guy to see his face. We are at this point where they are able to spread a rumour about someone I’ve never met in my life!
“And consider we are speaking about people, we are not speaking about things. I think everybody needs to have a bit of respect.”
