Fred Vasseur and his future at Ferrari have been a topic of discussion ahead of the F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia. The Frenchman’s future was the source of speculation for many as soon as the Christian Horner interview dropped ahead of the F1 Azerbaijan GP. With a legend of the sport, having a resume of 14 world championships, and sending out an open application to Ferrari, Fred Vasseur’s future appeared to be on thin ice.
With the management issuing a statement, coupled with a mini press conference of sorts, it does appear that the matter has been put to rest. But assuming that Fred Vasseur’s future is now safe with Ferrari would be an incorrect conclusion. Let’s take a look.
#1 There’s a Mattia Binotto Déjà Vu
As soon as Ferrari’s announcement came in the media, the first reaction was not a sigh of relief in different corners, as this puts an end to the speculation around the team principal’s future. Contrary to that, fans started joining the dots with what happened to Vasseur’s predecessor at Ferrari.
Fred Vasseur joined Ferrari in 2023 and had replaced Mattia Binotto. What was peculiar about the situation that Binotto found himself in was the fact that just two weeks prior to him being fired, the Italian team had put out a statement reassuring the fact that the team principal was not going anywhere.
Ironically, the same thing happened recently with Esteban Ocon as well, as just a couple of weeks back, Haas had announced that the driver’s future for 2027 had not been decided, and hence reaching any conclusions would not be the best call.
Ferrari is a team with very volatile leadership, and it won’t come as a surprise if either they change their mind or the recent announcement was nothing more than a PR statement.
#2 This is Fred Vasseur’s fourth season with Ferrari
Once the dream team disbanded at Ferrari and everyone left, the story within the team has followed a similar pattern. The team hires a team boss, he’s given around 4-5 years under immense scrutiny and then replaced. Stefano Domenicali lasted until the beginning of 2014.
He was replaced by Marco Mattiacci, who was in an interim role for a year. From 2015 to 2018, Maurizio Arrivabene was the team boss for 4 years before he was fired. From 2019 to 2022, Mattia Binotto was at the helm for 4 years before he was shown the door.
At this point, we have Fred Vasseur in his 4th year, and if history has shown us something, it is the fact that Ferrari loses patience with the team principal by the 4th season. If success is not knocking on the door, the pink slip might be on its way.
#3 Ferrari’s season is on a downward trajectory
Ferrari made a call to front-load its upgrades this season. As a result, in the first half of the season, the car was more often than not the best of the rest. In the second half of the season, we’re looking at rivals not only catching up in terms of chassis performance but also even overhauling Ferrari in some areas. We’ve seen Lando Norris win a couple of races, and we’ve also seen Max Verstappen continue to rack up podiums in his Red Bull.
With a third of the season still left, there’s still a lot to play for, but it does appear that Ferrari is comparatively on a downward spiral while the other 3 teams in the top four are starting to pull away. A P2 finish in the championship would still be a step up for the team from last season, but if it doesn’t finish runner-up, that could work against Fred Vasseur as well.
