Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur - I'll "fight like hell" with Mercedes' Toto Wolff

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto — Photo: © LAT Images

Fred Vasseur - Toto Wolff

Ferrari boss Vasseur - I'll "fight like hell" with Mercedes' Wolff

The two men are good friends but will now be enemies on track

Ian Parkes

Saturday 28 January 2023 09:30

New Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has vowed to "fight like hell" with a man who has long been a close ally in F1 in Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

The duo have forged a strong bond over the years but after Vasseur's appointment to the Scuderia, they will now find themselves in direct confrontation, both on track and off it at times as they will have to argue the positions of their respective organisations in various arenas.

On occasion, that will likely be in order to gain a sporting or technical advantage in a bid to further the F1 title ambitions of their teams.

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Asked of Vasseur whether he was prepared to throw Wolff under the bus to get his team ahead in a championship battle, the Frenchman knows there will be time for continued 'team work' and others when they will have to go head to head.

Speaking in a selected media interview including GPFans, Vasseur said: "I know that we will fight on track, fight in the stewards' [room], fight in the FIA, fight for the Concorde Agreement, and this is life.

"But at the end of the day, for the global picture, it's an advantage to have good collaboration between teams.

"On this side, when the common interests of the teams, of F1, is to have a discussion, to find an agreement, it will be a huge advantage to have a good relationship.

"But you know I also have a good relationship with a couple of other colleagues. This is always good, and then we have to be clever enough to speak completely [about] our life.

"But then be sure I will fight like hell with Toto out on the track."

Vasseur thanks Binotto for gracious Ferrari handover

The former Renault and Alfa Romeo team principal started work with the Scuderia on January 9, 11 days after Mattia Binotto had resigned on December 30.

Vasseur, however, has thanked Binotto for taking the time to run through a number of Ferrari procedures and processes when it came to handing over the baton.

"The process was crystal clear," said Vasseur, whose name was mentioned as the new Ferrari boss in the build-up to the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in mid-November.

"Even if we had some rumours in the press before Abu Dhabi or during, we didn't discuss it before.

"We had the first discussion the week after Abu Dhabi, and it was very, very quick as a process.

"And then I had a call with Mattia, and I even met Mattia during the handover and we had a 1-1 discussion.

"Thanks to Mattia for this. I appreciated this move from Mattia, to stay and wait for me to discuss it together. I really appreciated it from my side."