Mercedes Chief Defends Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari Boss Amid Replacement Rumors

Mercedes Formula One team principal Toto Wolff has voiced his support for Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur amid rumors of his potential ousting. Vasseur played a key role in signing Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes last year due to their association from Hamilton’s junior racing days.

Given Ferrari’s ongoing struggles in competing with strong teams such as Mercedes and McLaren this season, Vasseur’s role was speculated to be under the scanner of the Ferrari management.

Vasseur joined the Maranello-based team early in 2023, the year when Ferrari was the only non-Red Bull team to win a race in the entire season. The following year saw Ferrari narrowly miss out on the Constructors’ Championship to McLaren by just 14 points.

With the ongoing speculation about Vasseur, Wolff explained that F1 teams have their cycles of ups and downs, and a team principal should be given “space” during times of crisis. Citing examples, he said:

“It seems to be a bit of a revolving door with teams generally. I think in F1, you can’t buy time, and you need to give senior leadership the time to get on top of things.

“Today we talked about Jean Todt. Jean Todt, if I’m not wrong, joined the [Ferrari] team in 1993 and they won the first championship in 2000. ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, 2000. Eight years. That’s how it goes, and it comes at cycles.

“Look at us. I’m not enjoying being in a phase that it’s the third year in a row that we are not fighting for a championship. We’re not useless. We have really good weekends. We’re winning races. It’s respectable at times.

“And when it’s not good, nobody’s questioning in a way whether the top guy is doing a good job or not. Leave him the space. Let him do [things]. They need to just let them do [things].”

Wolff had high praise for Vasseur, calling him one of the “best racing managers,” and emphasized that he needs to be trusted to run the team, because Ferrari “won’t get anybody better.” The Mercedes chief said:

“Fred is one of the best racing managers that I know. If I wasn’t here, I would take Fred. So, I respect him a lot. He’s a great personality. He’s a straightforward guy. He doesn’t do politics and lies. He knows what he’s talking about.

“He just needs to be given the trust to run this. He’s perfectly aware that in Italy, it’s like managing the football national team. You’re going to have the scrutiny from the media.

“Maybe that’s something you need to grow a little bit of a thick skin, because if he wins, he is Jesus Christ, and if you lose, you’re a loser. That’s how Italy is. That’s fantastic.

“That’s the passion that is in there. You’ve got to embrace that. Maybe that’s something he needs to learn. But the rest, he should be given the confidence in running this team. They won’t get anybody better.”