Amidst speculations swirling that the incumbent Ferrari team principal is at risk of losing his job next season, Carlos Sainz has come to Fred Vasseur’s defence heading into the F1 Canadian GP this weekend.
Several Italian publications, including the prominent Gazzetta della Sport and Corriere della Sera, have raised concerns about Vasseur’s leadership and the prospect of Ferrari parting ways with the Frenchman at the end of this season.
Vasseur is currently in his third year at the helm of the Scuderia since he assumed responsibility from former team boss Mattia Binotto in 2023. Curiously, his original three-year contract is set to expire at the end of 2025, with no confirmed reports of a renewal yet.
Despite finishing only 14 points behind McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship last year, Ferrari’s 2025 campaign has been underwhelming so far.
While the Italian outfit has scored back-to-back podiums in the last two races with Charles Leclerc and has climbed up to second in the standings, they have yet to contend for victory in the first nine Grands Prix of the season.
Ferrari’s newest recruit Lewis Hamilton did put the SF-25 on pole and win the Sprint race in China. However, they find themselves trailing the championship leaders by nearly 200 points.
As things stand, both Leclerc and Hamilton, miles adrift of the McLaren duo at the top, are currently sitting fifth and sixth respectively in the drivers’ standings.
Nevertheless, Ferrari have rubbished these rumours as pure “fantasy,” and both drivers have come out in support of Vasseur and his vision for the team.
Sainz defends Vasseur and criticises media’s “finger-pointing”
Carlos Sainz, who Hamilton replaced at Ferrari, had played a pivotal role in Ferrari’s second-place finish last year before his move to Williams.
Speaking in a print media session ahead of the F1 Canadian GP on Thursday, Sainz weighed in on the latest wave of rumours surrounding his former team boss Vasseur. Reflecting on his own stint with the historic team, he noted the role of the media in blowing things out of proportion whenever Ferrari underdeliver on track.
Although lamenting the Italian marque’s decision to sign Hamilton over him, the Spaniard revealed that he maintains an excellent relationship with Vasseur and that he highly rates the Frenchman’s capabilities as a team principal.
“Same story as always, the moment that the results don’t click in Ferrari, there’s always finger-pointing by the media, and all this chaos happening.
“For me, it’s all about focusing on the process and delivering when it matters.
“But if you ask me, Fred [Vasseur], I have a great relationship with him. In the past, obviously, we went through a tough month where he didn’t want me and signed Lewis [Hamilton], but apart from that, we made peace about it, and I get on well, and I always rated him as a team principal and as a person.”
Sainz surprised Ferrari are not in contention for the title this season
When asked about Ferrari’s disappointing campaign so far ahead of this weekend’s Canadian GP, Carlos Sainz contemplated his final months in Maranello and shared his insights into why he believed that the team was primed for an F1 title challenge in 2025.
Admitting that he is clueless about the root of Ferrari’s struggles since his departure, Sainz also commended McLaren and their drivers for setting themselves apart from the rest of the field in terms of competitiveness this season.
“I can only talk about my time there when I left, and my feeling is that the team, the car, we felt like we were ready to fight for our championship.
“I thought, honestly, Ferrari could be in the fight for the championship this year. That’s what I communicated to Charles [Leclerc], [and] to the team. For me, everything was coming into place.
“I had zero involvement in the development of the 25’ cars, so I don’t know where they went with the balance, with the setup, and why they are struggling to get a result this year out of it.
“At the same time, probably, McLaren is just doing an excellent job. If McLaren is doing such a good job, then it doesn’t matter how good you do, there’s just someone performing at a very high level with two super strong drivers and doing very, very good in F1 right now, and that is McLaren.”
