Even after committing his future to Ferrari with a new contract partway through the 2025 Formula 1 season, Fred Vasseur remains under intense scrutiny, with questions continuing to swirl around his long-term position at Maranello.
Following Mattia Binotto’s departure at the end of the 2022 Formula 1 campaign, Ferrari entrusted Fred Vasseur with the task of leading the most famous team in the sport. His appointment came after a highly respected period at Sauber, where he earned a reputation as a calm, methodical leader capable of building competitive structures over time.
The brief handed to Fred Vasseur was unmistakable. Ferrari expected him to end a championship drought stretching back to 2008 and re-establish the Scuderia as a consistent title-winning force in both the constructors’ and drivers’ championships.
After several years of Red Bull Racing dominance, Ferrari appeared to be edging closer to that goal during a fiercely contested 2024 season, when the Italian team found itself locked in a genuine championship battle with McLaren. That progress created optimism that Ferrari were finally moving in the right direction under Fred Vasseur’s guidance.
Although it soon became clear that Ferrari would not be able to sustain those title ambitions during the 2025 season, the team’s senior management opted to reinforce their confidence in Fred Vasseur by awarding him a new multi-year agreement. Internally, the deal was widely seen as a signal that Ferrari believed stability at the top was essential, particularly with the sweeping 2026 Formula 1 regulation changes fast approaching.
Fred Vasseur underlines the fine margins of leadership in elite sport
Speaking to L’Equipe, Fred Vasseur addressed Ferrari’s difficult 2025 campaign, the pressure that naturally comes with leading such a historic team, and his outlook on the all-new technical regulations arriving in 2026.
During the interview, the former Alfa Romeo team boss was asked whether the role of a Formula 1 team principal can realistically be compared to that of a football manager. He dismissed the comparison, arguing that football coaches often operate under even harsher short-term pressure.
Drawing on his personal experience as a lifelong Paris Saint-Germain supporter, Fred Vasseur explained that he had seen first-hand how quickly perceptions can change in football. While leading Sauber, he frequently visited PSG’s Parc des Princes during discussions with Qatari investors, giving him a close-up view of how success and failure can hinge on the smallest details.
Fred Vasseur highlighted that, in football, a single missed penalty can define a coach’s entire career. He pointed to PSG’s dramatic European fixture against Liverpool, which was settled by the narrowest of margins in a penalty shoot-out. According to Fred Vasseur, a manager can be celebrated as a hero one moment and dismissed the next, purely based on millimetres.
By contrast, the French manager stressed that Formula 1 operates on much longer development cycles. He made it clear that building a competitive team requires patience, continuity, and time for structural changes to take effect. He noted that many of the key personnel he recruited after arriving in 2023 are only now beginning to influence Ferrari’s performance behind the scenes.
Has Ferrari given Fred Vasseur enough time to succeed?
Fred Vasseur has now overseen Ferrari for four full Formula 1 seasons, matching the length of Mattia Binotto’s tenure as team principal. Over that period, Ferrari have shown flashes of competitiveness but have ultimately fallen short of delivering a championship.
The 2025 season represented Ferrari’s weakest overall result under Fred Vasseur’s leadership, following three consecutive campaigns in which the team secured top-three finishes in the constructors’ standings. While the Frenchman’s statistical record compares slightly more favourably than that of his predecessor, the margins are narrow enough to keep the debate very much alive.
That context inevitably raises the question of whether Fred Vasseur has been afforded sufficient time to fully implement his vision, particularly given the scale of organisational and technical changes Ferrari have undertaken in recent years.
Looking ahead, the 2026 Formula 1 season is shaping up to be a defining moment for Fred Vasseur’s Ferrari project. With entirely new power unit and aerodynamic regulations, the reset offers both opportunity and risk. If Ferrari, led on track by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, fail to mount a serious challenge for major honours, pressure on Fred Vasseur is likely to intensify rapidly.
Conversely, a strong start to the new era could vindicate Ferrari’s decision to prioritise continuity and trust in Fred Vasseur’s long-term strategy. For now, his future at Maranello remains delicately balanced between patience and expectation.
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