Fred Vasseur has addressed the speculation surrounding his role as Ferrari team principal following FP1 of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Rumours of his future at the Italian outfit have been building for days and further fuelled by Christian Horner's musing about wanting the role. Today, Vasseur revealed that attacks on his character became "a bit personal."
It's been a weekend of damage control for Ferrari after the outfit already did its best to confirm its confidence in Vasseur during a recent press conference. Now in the lead-up to the race in Malaysia, its drivers have done the same, with them confirming once again their faith in the Frenchman.
During a press session with chief communications officer Maria Conti at the end of September, she vouched for the team chief, confirming Ferrari's "position is clear, has not changed, and Ferrari has made its choices already," adding that the team has "full confidence in Fred Vasseur and in his team."
Vasseur, asked at Sepang why that statement was even necessary, answered: "I think this you have to ask your colleague. 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 was it was mandatory to do something or it would have been the same this weekend.
"But honestly the big issue that we have today is the stability, the serenity into the team, the focus that we need to have and not to have this kind of question all the day."
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari
Despite Vasseur having signed a multi-year extension with the team only last year and being in his fourth season at the helm of the Italian powerhouse, a slump in performance and questions surrounding how Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc can engage on-track have seen fans question his leadership on social media. And while Ferrari still sits second in the constructors' standings with two wins, it's lacking the car development needed to continue a consistent fight against the top teams as the season progresses.
It's no surprise that success goes by quietly while failure generates loud criticism, and Vasseur has experienced this firsthand.
Ferrari currently holds strong positions in the standings with Charles Leclerc sitting in 5th place with 179 points.
Source: Motorsport
