Ferrari F1 chief makes telling visit as pressure piles on boss Fred Vasseur

Ferrari

Ferrari F1 chief makes telling visit as pressure piles on boss Vasseur

Fred Vasseur's position at Ferrari has been questioned

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Thursday 19 June 2025 08:56

Ferrari chairman John Elkann's absence at the Canadian Grand Prix has caught the attention of the Italian media, as pressure continues to pile on F1 team principal Fred Vasseur.

Ahead of the Canadian GP, reports emerged that Vasseur could be replaced at Ferrari before the 2026 project gets underway, all dependent on how Ferrari perform in Montreal, Austria and Silverstone.

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However, Vasseur dismissed these reports in Montreal, and received the public backing of both of his drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who stated he was the man to lead the team forward.

Following the Canadian GP, the Italian media have continued to speculate over Vasseur’s future with Tuttosport noting Elkann’s absence in Montreal and his attendance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he supported Ferrari’s endurance racing operation which is led by Antonello Coletta.

According to the report, Coletta is ‘well liked’ by Elkann, and with good reason after Ferrari earned their third consecutive Le Mans win and were one place away from a 1-2-3 lock out (prior to the No. 50 Ferrari's disqualification).

Coletta’s success has led to speculation that he could replace Vasseur should he be deposed from Ferrari’s F1 team, but for now the endurance racing boss remains focused on ‘winning everything’ in the 2025 World Endurance Championship.

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A Ferrari hypercar has won every event on the WEC calendar thus far in 2025, and they lead the manufacturers championship by 77 points ahead of Toyota.

This stands in stark contrast to Ferrari’s F1 season, where the team are yet to secure a single grand prix victory and struggle to frequently finish on the podium, with one sprint race win and three podiums to their name in 2025.

The team currently sit 16 points behind Mercedes in third, after George Russell and Kimi Antonelli secured a double-podium finish for the team in Montreal, with the British driver emerging victorious from the event.

Vasseur was forced to confront the press over rumours about his departure at the Canadian GP, where he released a strong statement and expressed his fury at the impact this talk was having on Ferrari.

“It’s not about myself, I think, because this I can manage,” he said to the media on Friday.

“It’s more about the people of the team. To throw their name like this, I think it’s just disrespectful – for them, for their family.”

Vasseur has enjoyed success at Ferrari throughout his career

The Ferrari team principal later added: “Now, with Lewis and Charles, I think we have a good relationship altogether."

“We have a clear target. We know that we have to work. We know that we have to push. But the mood in the team is very good, and that’s the basis if you want to recover and to win.

“Everything is there. Everything is on the table to do a good job, and altogether, we are working well.”