Tost Weighs In on Vasseur's Fate: What’s Next for Ferrari?
Jun.26 - Frederic Vasseur seems to be legitimately at risk of losing his top job at Ferrari.
That's the view of former fellow Formula 1 team principal Franz Tost, who led the Faenza-based Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri and now Racing Bulls outfit for two decades until retiring last year.
At the last grand prix in Canada, Frenchman Vasseur blasted matching reports in authoritative Italian newspapers claiming that he could soon be replaced by Ferrari's successful WEC boss Antonello Coletta.
Ralf Schumacher, whose brother Michael is the most successful Ferrari driver of all time, warns the Maranello-based outfit against scapegoating Vasseur.
"Fred is a good man," the German told Sport1, "and he needs more time. Rome wasn't built in a day.
"Jean Todt, too, was close to being fired at the beginning of his (Ferrari) career. Then my brother vehemently stood up for him - and Ferrari resident Luca di Montezemolo listened.
"Fortunately, if he hadn't done that, Formula 1 history would look different today."
Some analysts have run the numbers and concluded that the average career length of a Ferrari boss in the post-Tost era is just over three years.
"That's too short a time to truly build something great," Schumacher insisted.
In contrast to the Jean Todt story in which then president Montezemolo intervened, Tost thinks current Ferrari chairman John Elkann's silence amid the Vasseur speculation is telling.
"I can well imagine that Vasseur is under pressure," Tost said.
"Speculation never helps. But at Ferrari, you have to live with it all the time. What really gives me pause is that John Elkann isn't saying anything about it."
A report in the specialist Italian magazine Autosprint claims that Vasseur has been given an ultimatum - improved on-track results in 2025, or no contract extension beyond the end of the year.
Another voice urging Ferrari to hold the line is former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
"Ferrari needed five years with Michael (Schumacher), McLaren needed five years with (Mika) Hakkinen. The same with Red Bull before (Sebastian) Vettel won his first title in 2010," said the 94-year-old, who presided over all of those eras.
"You should definitely allow a team leadership those five years," Ecclestone added.
Vasseur's expiring three-year Ferrari contract began in 2023.
Former Ferrari engineer Luigi Mazzola admits he is alarmed to hear team newcomer Lewis Hamilton's early feedback about life at Maranello.
"I have the impression that a lack of trust in the entire project is causing unease among both the drivers and the engineers," he told Sky Italia.
"For me, Hamilton's words after Canada were absolutely sensational, because he was talking about organisation and mentality. To be honest, I'm astounded, because you'd expect the entire infrastructure at a team like Ferrari to be in place.
"This mentality should have existed within the company long ago, and if it isn't there, that's extremely worrying."
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