Italian Media: Frederic Vasseur likely to be announced as new Ferrari team principal before Christmas

Italian Media: Frederic Vasseur likely to be announced as new Ferrari team principal before Christmas

Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur

Ever since rumours of Mattia Binotto’s departure from Ferrari emerged, the rumours of Frederic Vasseur being the replacement broke alongside them. After Binotto’s departure was confirmed, the Frenchman was repeatedly reported to be a frontrunner to take over the role of team principal, who had been coy when previously asked about it. 

Now, it seems the move will finally materialize, and according to Sky Italia’s Carlo Vanzini, the announcement may come before Christmas. Moreover, Simone Resta, currently Technical Director at Haas, may go back to Ferrari in the same role. Giuly Duchessa of formu1a.uno also reports that Ferrari chairman John Elkann and Vasseur have finalized the agreement and that a pre-agreement had already been penned at the end of last summer.

Vanzini said: “Probably Simone Resta is going back to Ferrari as the new technical director. There will be a different hierarchy inside the team, roles that will be clear. Ravin [Jain, race strategy engineer at Ferrari] will have more power regarding the strategies. The race engineers will have more responsibilities.”

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Ricardo Adami, Carlos Sainz’s race engineer, and Xavier Marcos Pedros, Charles Leclerc’s race engineer will also have more responsibilities: “We know Ricciardo Adami, who is very experienced, while Charles’s engineer, Xavi, who is younger, will have more responsibilities, he will not only be a messenger between the remote garage and the driver.”

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Charles Leclerc’s ‘vote of confidence’ in Frederic Vasseur

Frederic Vasseur (L) Charles Leclerc (C) Mattia Binotto (R)
Frederic Vasseur (L) Charles Leclerc (C) Mattia Binotto (R)

Back in 2018, Charles Leclerc has worked under Frederic Vasseur at Sauber (and even before that), and he only had good things to say about his possible future team principal. There were earlier rumours of a ‘disturbed’ relationship between Mattia Binotto and the Monegasque and if Vasseur becomes the team principal, it will go a long way towards assuaging that.

While he could not conclusively say if Vasseur would be the new TP, Leclerc commented on his good experiences with the Frenchman at the FIA Gala Press Conference: “I can only comment on my experience with Fred [Vasseur], which have been good. I worked with Fred since the junior categories, where he has believed in me.”

He added that his good relationship with Vasseur should not influence decision-making: “We always had a good relationship. But apart from that, this should not influence any decisions. He has always been very honest, straightforward, and this is something I liked from Fred. Whether it will be him or not, I don‘t know. We will see in the next few months.”

Vasseur, if he steps into the role, will be Ferrari’s fifth team principal since 2007 when Jean Todt stepped down, and the fourth since they last won a title (WCC, under Stefano Domenicali in 2008). The expectations at Ferrari are great, and so is the pressure to deliver. The wait for the title has gone on far too long for most fans’ tastes.

Also Read: Charles Leclerc reveals Mattia Binotto gesture before resigning as Ferrari team principal

Also Read: Report: Charles Leclerc “not involved” in the sudden departure of Mattia Binotto from Ferrari F1