Charles Leclerc has full faith in Ferrari team principal Frederic Vassuer after Laurent Mekies announced he would leave the team.
The Scuderia’s current sporting director will take on Franz Tost’s role as team principal at AlphaTauri in Formula 1 with Peter Bayer, formerly of the FIA, taking over as CEO. Ferrari’s replacement for Mekies is not yet decided by Vasseur.
But despite the uncertainty, Leclerc remains adamant that Vasseur will find the right person to take on the role and he believes the former Alfa Romeo team principal is the right man for the same role at Maranello.
“We had a really good relationship with Laurent, but we all understand,” Leclerc told the media ahead of the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“I think we all understand in the team that this opportunity is right to take as it’s a really good opportunity for Laurent. So it’s like this, but the team is more than one person and yeah, I’m very confident for the future with Fred having what he has in mind.”
Disastrous start for Leclerc
Leclerc‘s start to 2023 has been a nightmare for the Monagasque with two DNFs and one solitary seventh-place finish leaving him tenth in the driver standings after three rounds.
The 25-year-old did not mince his words when describing his start to the year but remained adamant that the break between the Australian GP and Azerbaijan has done the team the world of good.
“Well, I mean, let’s be honest if we are speaking on track, first of all, the performance is not where we want it to be the first part of the season,” Leclerc added.
“I mean, the first three races for me was a disaster.
“But these three weeks, I think, was good to reset, to look a little bit at the things where we can optimise the package that we have that for now it is what it is and we’ve been working on that then off track.”
