Vasseur calls Ferrari distractions a “big issue” and urges calm

Vasseur admits that the distractions surrounding Ferrari have become a “big issue”. The team principal says rumours and repeated questions are undermining the stability and focus his team needs. A statement issued earlier in the week to reaffirm Ferrari’s confidence in him had, he said, become necessary.

“When you see all the noise and all the rumours in the press all week, I think as a team we need to work in serenity, and that absolutely was not the case,” he said after last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Vasseur explained that without the statement, the same subjects would have continued to dominate the discussion. “I think it was mandatory to put out the statement, to do something, otherwise we would have had the same thing this weekend.”

The Italian media have speculated in recent weeks about Vasseur’s future, while Christian Horner has been linked with the possibility of joining Ferrari. In response to the questions, the Frenchman says what the team needs most is a more stable environment: “The big issue we have today is stability, serenity in the team, and the focus we need, rather than having this kind of question all day.”

Vasseur also acknowledged that criticism comes with the job. “When you take the role, you take the positive and negative sides of the job. I was expecting something like this,” he said. He believes it can nevertheless be unfair to single someone out for blame, and says he wants to protect his team when results are difficult. “When we are winning, we are winning as a team; when we are struggling, I’m there to defend them.” He added that some attacks become personal, and that “it’s not good”.

The tension comes amid mixed sporting fortunes. Vasseur, who joined Ferrari from Sauber in 2023, has overseen the team’s return to race-winning form this year after a difficult 2025 season. But Ferrari’s championship challenge against Mercedes has faded in recent months, during a run of five races without a podium.

Ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, Lewis Hamilton passionately defended Vasseur while also questioning Ferrari’s structure and whether it needed to change. Vasseur said his relationship with his bosses, Benedetto and John, was “very good”. The desire always to do more, he argued, is part of the nature of the job and “has nothing to do with the organisation”. Last season, he signed a multi-year contract extension.