Fred Vassuer reacts to rumours of being disempowered at Ferrari by CEO Benedetto Vigna

Frederic Vasseur has reacted and released the first comments regarding the criticism received by Scuderia Ferrari following the disappointing outcome of the Bahrain Grand Prix and also after the not very reassuring news that have emerged about the Scuderia in recent days. A scenario triggered above all by two steps, the poor performance of the SF-23 car at the Sakhir circuit and the resignation of David Sanchez, Head of Vehicle Concept, a key figure in terms of design and development of the SF-23 challenger.

Speaking with journalist Jean-Michel Desnoues of French motorsport magazine AutoHebdo, the Ferrari team principal wanted to lower his tone and describe a calmer context than the one reported by the media in the last few days.

“I’d be tempted to smile if these statements had no impact on the team. Personally I have no problems, I know what I want to achieve and I will do it. I hear from John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna every day, I know what they expect from me. I have means and decision-making power like I’ve never had elsewhere, this is the reality of the facts” – the French manager explained, as reported by AutoHebdo.

“I’m having a hard time understanding how it is possible for the team to become a target after just one race – continued Fred Vasseur – we know what went wrong in Bahrain, but there’s nothing that can’t be improved. The correlation between the track and the simulator is good, in line with what we expected. After the pre-season tests, we spoke with the drivers, together with John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna, and we’ll talk again after Imola, these appointments are already scheduled” – the Ferrari team principal pointed out.

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Frederic Vasseur also commented on David Sanchez’s resignation. “It is inevitable. There are people who were very close to Mattia and who prefer to leave, it’s something that doesn’t worry me, and there are others who may have feared for their future for a moment”.

The latest rumors from the Italian media report a few more people that could leave Ferrari in the context of management roles.