Jean Todt has recalled the enormous pressure and anxiety he experienced during his first years in charge of Ferrari, revealing that Alain Prost warned him he might not even survive two seasons at Maranello. His memories carry particular resonance at a time when Fred Vasseur is once again facing intense scrutiny over his own position as Ferrari team principal.
Ferrari history appears to be repeating itself
Just as the pressure around Fred Vasseur appears to be increasing after four years at Ferrari, it is worth remembering how often Maranello seems to repeat the same story.
The role of Ferrari team principal has always carried extraordinary pressure. There was already controversy in the Italian media when Jean Todt arrived in 1993, followed by another campaign against the French manager in 1996.
Thirty years ago, Michael Schumacher strongly defended Jean Todt when the team principal came under attack, and Luca Cordero di Montezemolo followed with his own support a few weeks later.
The comparison is particularly relevant in the current environment, with Fred Vasseur again operating under heavy scrutiny over Ferrari’s leadership while continuing to reshape the organisation around him.
Jean Todt recalls the doubts surrounding his Ferrari move
Speaking recently on the 21News podcast, Jean Todt looked back on the difficulties surrounding his arrival at Ferrari and the problems encountered during his first seasons. The French manager, who would later oversee Ferrari’s golden period from 2000 to 2004, recalled the advice he received from people who already knew Maranello and the doubts that followed him at the beginning of his journey.
“Beyond the pressure, we also have to talk about health and risk. Because I was leaving Peugeot, where I had a stable situation and enjoyed a good reputation. I was about to take on a challenge where everyone was telling me: ‘Don’t go there, it can’t work.’ I remember speaking with Alain Prost, who told me: ‘You won’t even last two years.’ So you had to do the calculations. He told me: ‘If you are fired in two years and never find another job, what will you do?’” Jean Todt recalled.
The scale of the decision was therefore not merely professional. Jean Todt knew that leaving an established and successful position for Ferrari carried significant personal risk, especially when some of the most experienced figures around him doubted that the project could succeed.
‘I always had anxiety about what could happen’
Jean Todt admitted that those concerns stayed with him during the difficult opening years at Maranello.
“I always had anxiety about what might happen. And in that case it would have been a catastrophe. Yet the challenge won in the end and prevailed. Often during the first years, when things were not going as we would have liked, I would tell myself: ‘It won’t be possible.’ But at no point, at no point, did I lower my guard. And I was fortunate to put together a truly efficient team.”
Building that structure ultimately became one of the foundations of Ferrari’s later success. The importance of giving a team principal the time and freedom to construct an organisation remains highly relevant today, particularly as Ferrari continues its restructuring under Fred Vasseur.
Michael Schumacher’s support proved decisive
Jean Todt also highlighted the importance of having shareholders willing to support his proposal, even during a period when the results had not yet justified complete confidence in the project.
“And finally, I had shareholders willing to accept my proposal. They accepted it because they didn’t have a better solution to offer. Michael realised that we were on the right path and when people told him that I should be replaced, he replied that in that case he would leave too. That closed the matter,” Jean Todt explained.
Michael Schumacher’s intervention offered powerful protection at a particularly vulnerable moment for the Ferrari project. Years before the victories and championships arrived, there had already been doubts, pressure and calls for change.
Jean Todt’s recollections are therefore a reminder that Ferrari’s most successful modern era did not begin with certainty. It began with anxiety, criticism and repeated questions over whether the people leading the project would be given enough time to make it work.
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