Frederic Vasseur has responded to the controversy surrounding Ferrari following the Monza duel between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, insisting that both drivers must protect the team and take responsibility for their actions. The Ferrari team principal also rejected the suggestion that the Scuderia has no principles governing how its drivers race one another.
Ferrari has faced intense criticism following its last two Formula 1 weekends at Zandvoort and Monza, with Vasseur himself coming under particular scrutiny. The team principal has been held primarily responsible for the strategic confusion seen in the Netherlands and for the management of Ferrari’s two drivers in Brianza, where Charles Leclerc endured two extremely poor opening laps in the team’s home Grand Prix.
Ferrari under scrutiny after Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton Monza incidents
Charles Leclerc failed to keep his composure at the Prima Variante, sending Lewis Hamilton into the gravel during their opening-lap battle. At the Alboreto corner, the Monegasque then went as far as hitting the barriers.
However, part of Frederic Vasseur’s responsibility is also to prevent on-track skirmishes by making the drivers’ roles and responsibilities clear and ensuring that those instructions are respected. That has not happened effectively over the past two weeks, and Ferrari cannot afford a repeat if it wants to preserve even its slim hopes in the championship fight.
Frederic Vasseur tells Ferrari drivers to take responsibility
“Lewis and Charles have cleared the air, and I reminded them of some fundamental principles of the way I manage the team. And I will continue to stick to them,” Vasseur explained in an interview with Motorsport.com.
“My job is to protect the hundreds of people in the team and take responsibility. That is what I also asked of the drivers: if we want to achieve results, we have to protect the team and each take responsibility for our own actions.”
Vasseur stressed that he does not want to stop Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton from racing hard. His concern is instead the difference between some of the conversations taking place internally and the comments that subsequently emerge publicly.
“I’m not asking them not to be tough. But very often they are much calmer with us than they are later with the press. Then the journalists’ headlines pick up the part where they criticise the team, but Charles also said that he had been too aggressive, and that is fine with me,” the Ferrari team principal added.
Vasseur rejects Lewis Hamilton’s rules-of-engagement criticism
Following the Italian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton strongly expressed his frustration and argued that Ferrari did not have rules of engagement governing the two drivers. Vasseur rejected that interpretation and insisted that Ferrari’s fundamental principles are already understood inside the team.
“That does not reflect reality. You cannot expect every possible on-track scenario to be written into contracts. The principles are clear and the drivers know them: they know they can count on equal treatment, and then there could come a moment when I have to decide, if one of the two is out of contention.”
Vasseur has therefore also sought to clarify Ferrari’s position publicly. However, the Frenchman’s first responsibility is to make that position completely clear to his drivers. Even before Monza, he had explained the reasoning behind Ferrari’s Zandvoort strategy to Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, as well as the approach the team intended to take into its home Grand Prix.
Two minutes into the race at Monza, however, that plan had already fallen apart.
Leave a Reply