F1 News: Fred Vasseur hits back at critics over Ferrari failings

Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur embrace — Photo: © IMAGO

Ferrari F1

Lewis Hamilton’s boss hits back at critics over Ferrari F1 failings

Impassioned stuff from a clearly irritated Frenchman

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Thursday 8 October 2026 08:58

Make us your Google favorite

Under-pressure Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes criticism of the F1 giant has a detrimental impact on results.

The once-mighty Scuderia remains the biggest and most iconic brand in the sport, but the team has precious little on-track success to go with it.

It is now 18 years since the team in red won the Constructors' Championship, and 19 since Maranello last crowned a World Drivers' Champion in Kimi Raikkonen. Talk about living off past glories...

Article continues under video

2026 now appears to be going the way of so many recent Ferrari seasons, with early promise and hope replaced by fading performance and acrimony.

The 58-year-old Vasseur's position has been questioned in recent weeks as title hopes once again disappear and Lewis Hamilton bemoans flawed race strategy and the lack of rules of engagement between him and team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari took the extraordinary step last week of calling an emergency media briefing in which their communications chief defended Vasseur and said everybody at Maranello is behind him.

Later in the week Hamilton was very much singing from the same hymn sheet when he stressed at the Bahrain Grand Prix that he is team Fred.

Despite those words, and an improved showing by Hamilton and Leclerc in Sunday's race in Sepang, the pressure and the rumours and the negative headlines are unlikely to go away just yet.

Hamilton made the podium for Ferrari at Sepang on Sunday.

F1 HEADLINES: Christian Horner gets £66m Red Bull payout as Marko issues 'shameful' verdict

Vasseur takes a shot at Ferrari critics

Vasseur spoke about the Maranello rumour mill - and the impact it has on his team - during an interview with French broadcaster Canal+. He says the criticism does hurt the team's results in a big way.

"I don't have Instagram, I don't have Twitter, I don't read the press. I try to isolate myself from all this," Vasseur explained. Clearly not everybody at Maranello is able to do that.

Vasseur says his big concern is 'the 1500 people who work with me and who, when there's something negative about me, the team, or anything else, feel the backlash in the morning. And I think this is enormously detrimental to the team's results."

This is Vasseur's fourth season at Ferrari - about the same length of tenure his recent predecessors were given before they left the team. He knows there is pressure to win, something that despite the criticism he embraces.

"Going to Ferrari isn't the Holy Grail; winning with Ferrari is," he said.

"I don't feel like I've arrived at all. It's great at Ferrari, but it's even better if you win.

"There's a difference between what you read in the press, on blogs, or elsewhere, and the attitude of the people, which is always ultra-positive."

Ferrari head to the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend still in second place in the 2026 Constructors' standings, but they are now a massive 141 points behind the dominant Mercedes team.

Already the focus is starting to turn to 2027, and the question of when Ferrari might once again rule Formula 1. With every passing year, the pressure grows greater.

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Fred Vasseur