MONTREAL — Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur lashed out at the Italian media after reports he is on the verge of being sacked from the Formula 1 team.
Several outlets in Italy this week took aim at Ferrari, including Corriere della Sera, the nation’s most read newspaper, which suggested Vasseur is on thin ice after the team’s slow start to 2025.
On Thursday Lewis Hamilton passionately defended Vasseur, who he credited as the main architect of his move to Ferrari this season.
A report in La Gazzetta dello Sport also said the arrival of technical director Loïc Serra, who followed Hamilton from Mercedes this year, has fallen short of expectations internally.
Vasseur’s first appearance in front of the media came on Friday and he was in a punchy mood, making a quip about the governing FIA’s recent fines for people using profanity in press conferences.
“First, I have to stay calm because I will have to visit the stewards,” Vasseur said after the first question about the reports.
He went on to say the reports were having an adverse effect on other members of the team.
“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 names like this, I think it’s just disrespectful for them, for the family. And we had the case last year with the chief of aero [Aston Martin-bound Enrico Cardile] already. We had some other names this season.
“I don’t know the target. I don’t understand the target. Perhaps it’s to give s— to the team, but in this case I don’t see the point. Perhaps it’s for them the only way to exist. This is probably more the reason. But it’s really hurting the team.
“At one stage it’s the 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.
“And if it’s their target to put the team in this situation, they reach their goal. But I think it’s really… It’s not like this that we will be able to win a championship. And at least not with this kind of journalist around us.”
Ferrari’s coverage in the Italian press often follows a rollercoaster-esque trajectory.
Vasseur went on to say the reporting in some parts of Italy had gone too far and were being counterproductive for Ferrari’s hopes of winning championships in the future.
“We are in this situation on a daily basis now in Italy and too much is too much. Honestly, if they want [us] to be successful at one stage, we have also to be able to work in a clean environment. And we are not in this situation so far.
“The person that we are speaking about last year, I had to Google the name of the guy to see the face of the guy. You know, we are at this point now that they are able to spread a rumour about someone that I never met in my life. And consider that we are speaking about people. We are not speaking about things. I think everybody needs to have a bit of respect.”
While speculation and pressure are part of the job description of a Ferrari boss, Vasseur said he was more upset other members of the team are being made to feel uneasy about their positions.
He added: “I knew before [I took the job], I knew perfectly that I’m exposed. The issue is not the team principal because we are fully aware… I think the issue in this kind of situation is more the people of the team. And this is affecting me much more than my own position.
“We have to consider that the people who are in every single team of the grid, they are working all very hard, they are putting all of their energy. Sometimes they’re doing some sacrifice for the family and so on. And to put names like this on the paper, I think it’s very, very harsh.
“You have to understand that when a journalist is saying that ‘Ferrari will recruit this name for this position’, there is someone who is in this position and Sunday evening, the guy says, ‘OK, tomorrow morning I won’t have a job anymore because if what is in the newspaper is true, that I will have someone in my position’.”
Source: espn.com