Ferrari CEO addresses Fred Vasseur rumours but leaves key question unanswered

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna has decried rumours of a breakdown in his relationship with Fred Vasseur, in an interview which conspicuously shirked the elephant in the room.

Vigna spoke with an Italian publication regarding the recent speculation and noise surrounding Fred Vasseur and his position within Scuderia Ferrari, pouring cold water on the notion that he and Vasseur have fallen out.

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna addresses Fred Vasseur’s Ferrari future

In recent weeks, rumours have swirled in the F1 paddock that Vasseur’s time as team boss as Scuderia Ferrari is coming to an end at the conclusion of his fourth year in charge.

PlanetF1.com’s own reporting has been one of the voices adding to this noise, with multiple sources indicating that Ferrari is eyeing a succession plan with an aim of enacting this following the conclusion of this season.

The intent, it is claimed, is for Vasseur to be moved aside from his role, to enable a successor, with the Frenchman potentially being offered another role within the organisation if it is decided that a complete split isn’t necessary: the picture being painted is that of a planned step-down, rather than a forced removal.

While performance and results may be playing a role in this thinking, a more critical factor is that Vasseur is set to be offered an opportunity to step out of his extremely high-profile and stressful role, and allow him to return to a more low-key life and afford him the chance to focus on more personal priorities.

The leading contender for a potential successor is understood to be Ferrari’s WEC boss Antonello Coletta, while another possibility is the promotion of Jerome d’Ambrosio; at present, speculation linking Christian Horner with the role appears unlikely, with Horner’s now very widespread comments on the attraction of the Ferrari role understood to be coincidental timing in relation to the Vasseur speculation, having given his comments to the UK’s The Times a month ago.

With multiple publications reporting having heard similar regarding Vasseur from various sources, one suggestion put forward by some in the Italian media has been that Vasseur’s personal relationship with his superiors, chairman John Elkann and CEO Benedetto Vigna, may have deteriorated, particularly with Vigna.

Certainly, Vasseur retains the very public support of his two most high-profile employees, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who both spoke glowingly about his leadership and skills when they addressed the media on Thursday in Malaysia.

Hamilton alluded to the longevity of the current management structure, saying that he felt it may be something that “needs looking at”, and left mystery hanging in the air when he concluded his media session by saying that “he would make changes” to the organisational structure, although declined to reveal what those changes might look like.

Asked about Hamilton’s comments in the press conference on Friday, Vasseur said, “On the comment of Lewis, I think it would be a mistake to finger-point someone or something or whatever.

“In the good moments, we are winning as a team. In the bad moments, we are suffering as a team, and I don’t want to speak about a single individual or whatever.

“Honestly, I think it would be a huge mistake to start to not be unified. We had a good beginning of the season. For sure, it’s not enough.”

Asked by PlanetF1.com whether he believes he has sufficient autonomy within the organisation, Vasseur said, “Honestly, the relationship that I have with my bosses, Benedetto and John, is a very good one.

“We are in daily contact, and I can’t complain at all about the organisation.

“But for sure, you always want to get more, you always want to do more, you always want to recruit more too. But I think it’s true for me and it’s true for everybody on the grid, that you always want to do more because it’s the DNA of what we are doing. But honestly, it has nothing to do with the organisation.”

These comments followed on from a hastily-organised press briefing given by Ferrari’s corporate arm earlier in the week, in which chief communications officer Maria Conti re-iterated the company’s belief in Vasseur: “Ferrari’s position is clear, has not changed, and Ferrari has made its choices already, and we have confidence, full confidence, in Fred Vasseur and in his team, and we continue to do so.”

With Vigna in attendance at the race in Malaysia, he spent Saturday mingling and speaking with Ferrari staff members at the team hospitality unit and, at the end of the day, was spotted by this writer walking out of the paddock alongside Vasseur; he also took to the grid to watch on as Ferrari prepared for the race on Sunday, accompanied by F1 communications chief Davide Marchi.

PlanetF1.com, as well as journalists from other publications, attempted to speak with Vigna directly during the weekend, in an attempt to gain further clarity on the topic, without success, with the Italian instead jovially pointing his response to an on-record interview with Motorsport Italy, in which he took aim at “fake news” regarding the claims of their personal relationship.

While there were precious few on-record quotes attributed to Vigna in the piece, renowned Italian journalist Roberto Chinchero wrote, “Ferrari has already made its position clear publicly, confirming its confidence in the team principal, and Vigna has broadened the discussion to the current situation at the Scuderia, always at the centre of rumours, interpretations and comments that, these days in Formula 1, travel at ever greater speed, thanks to social media.

“To illustrate this, Vigna recounts an episode that he says neatly illustrates the gap that can grow between reality and rumour.

“Some time ago, he was having dinner with the Scuderia team principal and during the evening came across a piece of content confidently claiming that relations between the two were terrible, to the point that Vigna and Vasseur could not stand each other.

“The paradox was obvious: Vigna was reading those comments while having dinner with the very person with whom, according to that account, his relationship had supposedly deteriorated. The inevitable reaction was a smile.”

At surface level, the putting together of ‘fake news’ and ‘Vasseur’ in one headline may appear to pour cold water further on the idea that Vasseur may not continue in the role in 2027, but the narrative can also be viewed as somewhat obfuscated: while Vigna has clarified the relationship with Vasseur remains strong, which appears to be the case, the glaring omission in the interview is a failure to address the actual question of whether the Frenchman will continue in his current role next year – a topic that appears should have been the first port of call.

All the noise, all the ‘distractions’ that the team so publicly decries, can be shut down with one firm declaration that Vasseur will continue in his role next year and, despite carrying out an interview of ostensible support, Vigna did not do so.

Ferrari sources have indicated that it’s felt the speculation has now been sufficiently addressed, and the possibility of a Vasseur departure suitably rebuffed – by both the mid-week press call, and the interview given by Vigna. It’s a justified stance, but it must be noted that, despite feeling the topic has been sufficiently addressed, the reluctance to confirm Vasseur remains in 2027 means it can still be interpreted as evasive.

While Vigna has spoken, and it’s welcome news that he and Vasseur get on so well, the key declaration remains unmade, and, rather, swerves the topic at hand: will he, or won’t he, be the team boss in 2027?

It is a question that Ferrari sources conspicuously appear unable to answer. Similar can be said about the press briefing during the week: while Conti’s addressing of select journalists appears to shut the topic down by indicating support for Vasseur, the message delivered was that of wanting to reduce the distractions, focusing on the upcoming races and the future, and Vasseur being paid to withstand the pressure of such public scrutiny – a task he is performing admirably.

When asked directly whether Vasseur will continue to serve as team principal next season, Conti’s reply appears affirmative but, once again, did not explicitly confirm it: “Ferrari’s position is clear and does not change.

“I’ve not [got] Benedetto and John with me, but I’m aligned with the top management and Ferrari has made its choices.

“So there is confidence in Fred Vasseur and his team. Nothing has changed, and we continue to do so. Fred is in his position, and we are confirming his leadership.”

Affirmative, yet strangely evasive: ‘Vasseur is in his position’ is a statement of fact, not a declaration of intent.

More on Ferrari from PlanetF1.com

‘Higher highs, much lower lows’ – Vasseur faces a different pressure at Ferrari

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What started as paddock whispers has now grown into something larger, with the team’s inability to state a simple sentence to shut all the speculation down in one swoop becoming ever more evident, despite the existence of a contract with Vasseur that runs to the end of 2027.

Sources, including intensive cross-collaboration with other publications on the topic, continue to indicate the situation remains unchanged, with the team weighing up solutions for a succession plan.

But that doesn’t mean change will necessarily come, given that the intent appears to be to arrange a ‘succession plan’ rather than an acrimonious split.

Ferrari’s approaches of Coletta are said to have been rebuffed on multiple occasions, and the lack of availability of a high-profile play-and-play manager, Horner aside, means that it may yet end up come to pass that Vasseur does remain as team boss, purely to help facilitate the identification and onboarding of his successor.

But, for now, there remains no firm denial that this succession planning is going on.

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