Fred Vasseur has been the subject of some scathing criticism and rumors in the Italian media; his absence from the F1 Austrian GP led to Toto Wolff getting asked about the Frenchman and his future at Scuderia Ferrari.
The Ferrari team principal found himself on the wrong side of the Italian media ahead of the start of the Canadian GP. However, he wasn’t the only one on the target. Longtime Mercedes loyalist Loic Serra, serving Ferrari as Technical Director Chassis since October 2024, faced a volley of criticism as well.
While a section of the Italian media questioned Serra’s addition, things seemed much worse for Vasseur. The French manager was a subject of speculations that hinted at Ferrari management looking to offload him.
Vasseur vehemently defended himself and Serra in the days that followed and slammed the section of Italian media responsible for circulating such unverified reports.
Wolff goes into bat for Vasseur following F1 Austrian GP
He now has Toto Wolff standing right by him. The Mercedes boss not just called for patience among the Italian fans and media but also put forth a reminder of how long it took for Ferrari’s most successful team principal, Jean Todt, to deliver his first title for the team.
“I think in Formula 1, you can’t buy time. And you need to give senior leadership the time to get on top of things. Today we talked about Jean Todt. Jean Todt, if I’m not wrong, joined the team in 1993. They won the first championship in 2000. ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, 2000. Eight years. That’s how it goes. And it comes in cycles,” said Wolff after the F1 Austrian GP in a print media session.
Todt took up the team principal’s role at Ferrari in 1993 but only won his first Constructors’ title with the team in 1999. Wolff proceeded to cite his own team’s example through their title drought since 2021.
“Look at us. I’m not enjoying being in a phase that is the third year in a row that we are not fighting for a championship,” added Wolff. “We’re not useless. We have really good weekends. We’re winning races. It’s respectable at times. And when it’s not good, nobody is questioning in a way whether the top guy is doing a good job or not. Leave him the space.”
Toto Wolff names Fred Vasseur as his ideal team principal replacement at Mercedes F1
Christian Horner and Wolff hold the top 2 spots in the list of longest-serving team principals among the current lot. While Horner has been Red Bull’s in-charge since 2005, Wolff took over the reins at Mercedes in 2013. While Vasseur holds the third place in the list, he has only been the Ferrari boss since January 2023.
That led to Wolff jokingly calling himself and Horner the “dinosaurs” while the team bosses around them have been going through “a revolving door”. Nevertheless, the Austrian manager stood firmly for Vasseur and Serra, and called for patience among the Italian media.
Vasseur would be a perfect candidate at Mercedes — Wolff
In his emphatic words, Wolff even dubbed Vasseur as his own ideal replacement at Mercedes.
“Let him do it. Allow him to structure an organisation that isn’t going to break from day one. Loic is there six months or seven months. They need to just let them do it. Fred is one of the best racing managers that I know,” continued Wolff.
“If I wasn’t here [at Mercedes], I would take Fred. I respect him a lot. He’s a great personality. He’s a straightforward guy. He doesn’t do politics and lies. And he knows what he’s talking about. You just need to be given the trust to run this. He’s perfectly aware that in Italy, it’s like managing a football national team. You can’t have the scrutiny from the media.
“Maybe that’s something you need to grow a little bit of a thick skin. Because if he wins, he is Jesus Christ. And if you lose, you’re a loser. That’s how Italy is. And that’s fantastic. That’s the passion that is in there. You’ve got to embrace that. Maybe that’s something he needs to learn. But the rest, you should be given the confidence in running this team. They won’t get anybody better.”
