Ferrari has known better times in F1. Following last weekend’s GP at Monza, the intra-team rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc is at the centre of the attention. The seven-time world champion lament the team’s rules of engagement, or rather lack thereof. So it rests on the shoulders of Fred Vasseur to handle the fall-out of the 2026 F1 Italian GP.
In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, the French team principal addresses some of the issues the team faces from the public, such as the ever-present pressure on his own position.
Hamilton and Leclerc need to keep in mind they’re driving for a team
Regarding the somewhat public fued between Hamilton and Leclerc, Vasseur is clear. He wants his drivers to take responsibility and protect the workforce back at Maranello.
“We had some good meetings with Lewis and Charles,” Vasseur explains. “They cleared things up together and I reminded them of some fundamental principles of the way I manage the team. And I will continue to stick to them.
“I reminded Lewis that when we won the race in Melbourne two years ago thanks to the strategy, I sent Ravin Jain onto the podium because it was right that he got the recognition. When we lost a race because of strategy, I went in front of the TV cameras and took responsibility.
“My job is to protect the hundreds of people in the team and to take responsibility. That is what I have asked the drivers to do as well: if we want to achieve results, we need to protect the team and each of us needs to take responsibility.”
Criticism on first lap incident disproportionally spiraled into story on driver management
Being a motorsport, and in fact an F1 veteran, Vasseur knows the press runs with every bit of controversy. But instead of silencing his drivers, he wants to remind them of how the game is played.
“I’m not asking them not to be open or not to be tough,” Vasseur said. “But very often they are much calmer with us than they are when they go and speak to the press.
“Lewis told me: ‘Fred, 80% of my message was positive and they took the 20% that was negative.’ But we all know how it works. If you say the team is doing a good job and then add a ‘but’, that is the part that will become the headline. It’s part of the game.”
However, the Ferrari teamboss feels the first lap incident was quickly blown out of proportion, escalating to a driver-management issue before the race was really over.
“Charles, after the discussion, said: ‘I was too aggressive.’ And for me, that’s fine. When Kimi was fighting with Russell he ended up in the gravel, just as Lewis did at the start.
“But in our case, we moved very quickly from an incident on track to talking about a crisis in the way the drivers are being managed. I think the two things need to be kept in the proper perspective.”
No rules of engagement is not true says Vasseur
The main fall-out after the Italian GP was a supposed lack of rules of engagement, something Vasseur denies.
“To say that there are no ‘rules of engagement’ doesn’t reflect reality. You can’t expect contracts to cover every possible scenario you might encounter on track, because inevitably everything would become a matter of interpretation. ‘I was there’, ‘no, you were five centimetres further back’ — you don’t solve anything that way. The principles are clear and the drivers know them.
“Ferrari drivers can count on equal treatment, then there may come a point when we have to make a decision if one of them is out of the fight,” Vasseur added. “In that case, it will be my decision. But until that moment, the treatment will be equal.”
To highlight his point, Vasseur refers back to McLaren’s ‘Papaya Rules’ at Monza last year, where Piastri was ordered to stay behind Norris, despite leading the championship at that point.
“Imagine if McLaren had decided to put everything behind Piastri: perhaps Verstappen, who finished three points behind Norris, could have become champion.
“That’s what I told our drivers. We’ll make a decision when we’re closer to the end, why not? But today there isn’t even anything to discuss.”
ADUO worries are unfounded
Ferrari brought their ADUO 2 upgrade to Monza, which according to some might have been a bit disappointing. Vasseur himself disagrees with this assessment, as power improvements manifest differently at different tracks.
“I know it’s difficult to understand at first glance, but anyone with some technical knowledge knows exactly what I’m talking about.”
Vasseur explains: “Let me give you an example: at a circuit like Zandvoort, a power deficit of X horsepower might cost you three tenths. If we improve the performance of that engine to the point where we reduce the power deficit by a third, then go to a circuit like Monza, we may find that the lap time gap to our rivals, instead of getting smaller… gets bigger.
“That doesn’t mean the ADUO isn’t working. Even if you make a step forward of several horsepower, at Monza you can still be further away from the benchmark than you were at Zandvoort.
“When I read that ‘the ADUO isn’t working’, I find that disrespectful towards the people working on the engine because it doesn’t reflect reality,” reflecting back to the earlier point made about the factory workers.
Vasseur not feeling the pressure
Being the Ferrari team principal brings ever-present pressure, as the Italian media are ruthless. Like last year, Vasseur is already on the way out, if the rumours are to be believed. The Frenchman himself isn’t too worried about these rumours.
“Somebody says I’m going to be fired this weekend, or that I was fired last night,” he shrugged. “We’ve won two races, we can win more, and we have a clear idea of how to make further steps forward. That’s where I’m focusing my energy. Being under pressure is part of my job. It’s not something I want to waste energy on.”
Vasseur rejected any suggestion towards a lack of support by Ferrari’s upper management.
“First of all, it’s not for me to underline whether or not I have the support of the chairman,” he stated. “But the communication channel is constantly open and constructive.
“On top of that, at almost every race weekend we’ve had representatives of the senior management from Maranello with us, from John Elkann to Benedetto Vigna and Piero Ferrari. I think that’s a really positive sign for everyone working in the team, both at the track and in Maranello.”
