Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari F1 boss branded 'Napoleon' who has an 'allergy to Maranello'

The role of Ferrari team principal is one that comes with a huge amount of pressure attached to it, and unfortunately for Fred Vasseur, he's facing the brunt of it right now.

Ferrari are an institution in Italy, and they are expected to win. When things go wrong in Maranello and that doesn't happen, the Italian press are all over it.

Heading into F1's summer break, all seemed as though it was heading in the right direction for the Scuderia. Lewis Hamilton sat second in the drivers' championship, 50 points adrift of Kimi Antonelli and the young Italian's closest challenger after a strong first half of the campaign.

Further engine and aerodynamic upgrades were on the way that were supposed to see Ferrari challenge Mercedes' dominance.

However, since F1 returned at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Hamilton and Ferrari's title hopes have been obliterated, largely in part through their own decisions, or indecisions.

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Tension at Ferrari

First up in Zandvoort, Hamilton became increasingly frustrated when he was held up by a slower Leclerc while running a different tyre strategy.

In Ferrari's defence, they had asked Leclerc to pit to get him out of the way, but the Monegasque driver initially refused and didn't do so until the following lap, costing Hamilton crucial lap time and what would have been a podium. Naturally, Vasseur and the team came in for a lot of criticism after this for not clearly telling Leclerc to move aside.

Then, at the Italian Grand Prix, the Ferrari team-mates lined up on the second row for lights out in search of a home win for their team, but raced aggressively against each other in the first two corners, resulting in Hamilton going off track and losing several places. Leclerc later conceded the pair went too far, but Hamilton was adamant there was no 'we'.

That led us up to the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, where Leclerc and Hamilton avoided any further scuffles, but Hamilton suffered a DNF, leaving him trailing Kimi Antonelli by 101 points in the drivers' standings. With nine rounds to go, he is mathematically not out of it, though he now harbours no realistic chance of winning title number eight.

Vasseur under scrutiny

With things having gone so badly wrong in recent weeks, Ferrari's leadership is now under scrutiny, particularly team principal Vasseur.

Former F1 driver Marc Surer described his leadership in Zandvoort as 'weak' recently, and now, the Italian media have come for the 58-year-old.

In an appearance on the Terruzzi Racconta YouTube channel, Italian journalist Giorgio Teruzzi has slammed Ferrari's management and indeed their team principal.

“It's an evergreen that comes up every year because the management is what it is," Teruzzi said in a brutal analysis. "There is like a relationship with [Benedetto] Vigna (Ferrari CEO) that is now non-existent."

Teruzzi continued, claiming that Vasseur has an 'allergy' to Maranello, alleging that he is rarely seen at Ferrari's base, before delivering a very harsh verdict.

“There's an allergy to Maranello too because he's rarely seen," Teruzzi added.

"They call him Napoleon because he seems to have an attitude, absolute boss that is constantly a bit annoying and a bit arrogant.”

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