Ferrari confirms support for Frederic Vasseur amid speculation over his future
On 29 September 2026 Ferrari used a hastily convened media call to publicly back Frederic Vasseur as their Formula 1 team principal amid speculation about his future, a situation fuelled by comments from former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner expressing interest in joining the Italian outfit. The statement reiterated that Vasseur remains in place despite external attention on the role.
Ferrari chief communication officer Maria Conti spoke at the media call on behalf of chairman John Elkann and chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna, saying: "Ferrari's position is clear," Conti said. "It will not change. l am officially saying - I don't have John here with me, but Ferrari has made its choice. There is confidence in Fred and his team. Nothing has changed." Frederic Vasseur has been team principal of Ferrari since 2023.
The backing comes amid the backdrop of the 2026 season, when Ferrari had hoped preparations for widespread rule changes covering cars and engines would give them a chance to challenge for the championship. Early in the season Ferrari's chassis was regarded as the best in F1 but the team has reported that its engine has fallen short of the performance set by Mercedes and Red Bull.
In the constructors' standings Ferrari sit second after 15 of a scheduled 23 races, a position that leaves them 160 points behind leaders Mercedes and with McLaren 72 points adrift in third as a nearer threat the team must consider. The article said Ferrari were "more concerned about fending off a challenge from McLaren."
Lewis Hamilton was asked on Saturday after the race in Baku whether he was still confident Ferrari were heading in the right direction under Vasseur; he replied: "Yes." Vasseur addressed the uncertainty after the Baku race, saying: "We are not working in the perfect serenity. For me, first, but for everybody in the team, for the media, for 50% of the questions [to be] about this, it's a bit of a frustrating situation." He added: "We are fighting for P2 in the championship, and at the end of the day we are all speaking a lot about this, and even for the guys in the garage, to discuss about this, it's the best discussion that we can have." Vasseur also said: "But it is what it is - it's not in my hands. Mr Horner is looking for a job - that everybody knows - everywhere." He concluded: "But what can I do? Just try to do my best to push the team, to rise them to be motivated."
Vasseur joined Ferrari at the start of 2023 following the removal of former team principal Mattia Binotto, a decision that came after a bright start to the previous regulation set in 2022 was followed by a slump characterised in the report by poor reliability and questionable operational decisions. Ferrari confirmed Vasseur signed a new contract with the team in July last year.
Ferrari did not disclose the precise duration of that deal, describing it only as "a multi-year contract for the coming Formula 1 seasons."