Fred Vasseur’s ability to impose order and discipline inside Ferrari has come under renewed scrutiny, with veteran Italian journalist Pino Allievi arguing that the current team principal has not mastered one of the qualities Jean Todt used to transform Maranello into Formula 1’s dominant force.
The criticism arrives while speculation continues around Vasseur’s future despite Ferrari publicly reaffirming its confidence in the French manager. With the Scuderia no longer sustaining a realistic 2026 title challenge, questions over the organisation’s leadership have resurfaced ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.
Pino Allievi sees Ferrari bureaucracy as Fred Vasseur’s central problem
Allievi believes the deeper issue goes beyond individual race results. In his assessment, Ferrari’s internal bureaucracy has repeatedly prevented talented people from reaching their full potential and remains one of the greatest challenges facing anyone responsible for running the team.
Andrea Stella was presented as one example. Allievi argued that Ferrari failed to recognise that the engineer who later moved to McLaren possessed the qualities required to become a leading figure, even though his departure from Maranello was not driven by political reasons.
The veteran journalist believes Fred Vasseur and the people closest to him have still not fully understood the particular environment they are operating in. In his view, the French manager has never completely absorbed Ferrari’s mentality in the way Jean Todt managed to do during his years in charge.
Jean Todt comparison puts Ferrari discipline under the spotlight
The biggest distinction, according to Allievi, concerns discipline. Jean Todt may not always have been popular within Ferrari’s sporting organisation, but he established order and created clear responsibilities throughout the structure.
Allievi does not believe the same level of rigour is currently visible under Fred Vasseur. He considers clarity of roles and internal discipline fundamental requirements for overcoming the complexities of Maranello, rather than secondary management details.
The comparison carries particular weight because Todt reshaped Ferrari alongside Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne during the late 1990s. Their work eventually gave Michael Schumacher the platform required to end Ferrari’s long wait for another drivers’ championship.
Michael Schumacher won five consecutive drivers’ titles from 2000 through 2004, while Ferrari secured six successive constructors’ championships between 1999 and 2004. Those achievements ended title droughts stretching back to 1979 in the drivers’ championship and 1983 in the constructors’ standings.
Ferrari rumours continue despite public backing for Fred Vasseur
Vasseur became the latest figure charged with trying to recreate that level of success when he replaced Mattia Binotto as Ferrari team principal in December 2022. His position has nevertheless become the subject of speculation for the second consecutive year.
Ferrari moved to silence doubts over his future in July last year by handing him a new contract running through the 2027 season. Fresh speculation emerged after the Scuderia failed to maintain its championship challenge in 2026, with reports suggesting another managerial change could be considered.
The discussion intensified further when former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner indicated that Ferrari represented his dream job and that he would be prepared to give up an ownership stake elsewhere for such an opportunity. The possibility of Christian Horner becoming involved in Ferrari’s leadership structure has consequently become part of the wider debate surrounding Maranello.
Ferrari subsequently issued an official statement expressing confidence in Vasseur after reports suggested preparations were already being made for his replacement. Other senior Formula 1 figures have also challenged the criticism, including Flavio Briatore, who defended Fred Vasseur and described the scrutiny as excessive.
Fred Vasseur still faces the challenge Jean Todt eventually conquered
The broader question is whether Ferrari can build the internal structure required to turn competitive potential into sustained championship success. The team has not won a drivers’ title since Kimi Räikkönen triumphed in 2007, while its most recent constructors’ championship came one year later.
Those long droughts help explain why every Ferrari team principal is measured against the Jean Todt era. Todt’s success was not simply the result of one fast car or one outstanding season; Ferrari developed an organisation capable of repeatedly converting its resources into championships.
For Allievi, that organisational strength is precisely where the present leadership remains vulnerable. His criticism is therefore aimed less at individual technical decisions and more at Vasseur’s ability to establish authority, simplify responsibilities and overcome the bureaucracy he believes continues to shape life inside Maranello.
2026 championship picture adds pressure before Singapore
The championship situation has intensified the scrutiny. After 16 of the 23 rounds, Andrea Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers’ standings with 320 points, while Lewis Hamilton is Ferrari’s highest-placed driver in third, 106 points behind.
Mercedes also holds a 151-point advantage over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship ahead of round 17 in Singapore. The full run-in can be followed through the 2026 Formula 1 calendar, with Marina Bay beginning the final phase of the campaign.
That makes another championship unlikely for Ferrari in 2026 and ensures that attention will continue to extend beyond individual Grand Prix results. The discussion around Vasseur now concerns whether he can change the organisation itself, not simply whether the SF-26 can produce competitive weekends.
Ferrari has publicly backed its team principal, but Allievi’s assessment highlights the standard against which the Frenchman continues to be judged. Jean Todt eventually imposed the discipline, structure and clarity that turned Maranello into Formula 1’s dominant organisation. In Allievi’s view, Vasseur has yet to demonstrate that he has done the same.
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