Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has found himself at the centre of a media storm coming into the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix with reports in Italy suggesting he is on the brink of being dismissed from his role.
Ferrari sits second in the Constructors’ Championship after but the huge 197-point gap to McLaren in first is not a position that the Scuderia had expected to be in with a driver lineup of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
The latter chose to publicly back his boss before the Canadian GP, saying: “It’s definitely not nice to hear that there are stories like that out there. Firstly, I love working with Fred. Fred’s the main reason I’m in this team and I got the opportunity to be here – for which I’m forever grateful. We’re in this together. We’re working hard in the background.”
It is fair to say that the weekend has not started well for Ferrari as Leclerc crashed midway through Free Practice 1 and was forced to miss Free Practice 2 as a result, whilst Hamilton did not find any notable pace in the first two Montreal sessions.
Vasseur takes aim at the Italian press
Speaking to the press in Canada, Vasseur was asked about the recent coverage of him and the team, and he showed how much of a distraction is can be for individuals within the team.
“I have to stay calm because I will have to finish to the stewards. It’s some Italian media, it’s not all the Italian media. It’s not about myself, I think, because this I can manage,” Vasseur said.
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“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. And we had the case last year with the chief of aero already. We had some other names this season. I don’t know the target. I don’t understand the target. Perhaps it’s to give s**t to the team, but in this case, I don’t see the point.”
“Perhaps it’s for them the only way to exist. This is probably more the reason. But it’s really hurting the team. It’s, at one stage, a lack of focus. And when you are fighting for the championship, every single detail makes the difference. And from the beginning of the weekend, we are just speaking about this.
“And if it’s their target to put the team in this situation, they reached their goal. But I think it’s really, it’s not like this that we’ll be able to win a championship. And at least not with this kind of journalist around us. I won’t go to the stewards for this – so far!”
Vasseur also wanted to stress that individuals within the team have more to their lives than just their jobs, saying: “I knew when I took the position that you are exposed, and this I think is quite easy to manage. It’s more for the people of the team. They are working very hard and to decide one day that “this one will be replaced, this one is useless”—honestly, it’s very harsh.
“These journalists, and I’m not putting everybody in the same basket, but they have to consider that these people, they have families, they have wives, they have kids. And this is completely disrespectful. But I don’t want to speak anymore about this stupidity.”
Ferrari’s chances in Canada
Ferrari experienced a double-DNF in Canada last season with Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, so the only way is up for the Scuderia on this occasion.
Vasseur was keen to point out that Leclerc was putting in some impressive laps before his lapse of judgement and eventual crash at the Turn 3/4 chicane.
“Well, at least we won’t do worse than last year—it was a double DNF. But the pace this morning was okay for Charles before the crash. And with Lewis it was okay also. We made a step, I think, if you compare to the first races— now we came back to P2, we had the last three or four weekends with strong pace. It was already the case at the beginning, but more on the race pace than the quali pace.
“Now I think we’re able to put a little bit more of everything together and do a good weekend. But it’s still a long way compared to McLaren because they are still one step ahead. We have to keep McLaren as a target and not look behind us. But we’re on the right way.”
