The reports of Fred Vasseur’s sacking from Scuderia Ferrari have been greatly exaggerated — and the team principal has hit out at the media’s “disrespectful” coverage.
Vasseur has denied reports from an Italian media outlet that he’ll be replaced, saying “too much is too much.”
Fred Vasseur slams sacking speculation as “too much is too much”
"I have to stay calm because I will have to face the stewards," Scuderia Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said during Friday’s FIA press conference during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
Earlier in the week, Italian publication Corriere della Serra reported that Ferrari is looking to replace Vasseur in light of the team’s performance struggles.
Nearly everyone at the team — including drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc — has been grilled about the potential swap, and they’ve all had the same response: Vasseur isn’t going anywhere.
But Vasseur may have hit his breaking point in Friday’s press conference as he was bombarded with question after question about Ferrari’s future.
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For Vasseur, the rumors aren’t just untrue — they’re also disrespectful.
“It’s not about myself, I think, because this I can manage,” the boss said.
“It’s more about the people on the team; I think it’s just disrespectful to them, to their families. We had a case last year with the head of aerodynamics already.”
Referring to the objectives of the publications behind these rumors, Vasseur said, "I don't know the target. I don't understand the target."
Perhaps it's to give shit to the team. But in this case, I don't see the point.
Perhaps it's for them the only way to exist. This is probably more the reason, but it's really hurting the team.
At one stage, it’s a lack of focus, and when you are fighting for the championship, every single detail makes the difference. And from the beginning of the weekend, we are just speaking about this.
If their goal is to put their team in this situation, they achieve it. But I don't think we'll be able to win a championship like this, at least not with these kinds of journalists around us.
When asked if criticism is simply a natural part of the role, Vasseur admitted it was, and that he was crystal clear on that fact when he joined. But again, he pointed out the impact these rumors have on other people in the team.
"They are working very hard, and to decide one day that this one will be replaced, this one will be replaced, this one is useless — honestly, it’s very, very harsh," Vasseur said.
They have these journalists — and I’m not putting everybody in the same basket — but they have to consider that these people, they have family, they have wives, they have kids, and this is completely disrespectful.
But now I don't want to speak anymore about this stupid [topic], ed. ].”
He spoke more about it, however, as the questions kept coming. After being asked about the support he received from drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, Vasseur again deflected attention from himself and back to team personnel.
"They are putting all of their energy; sometimes they’re doing some sacrifice for the family, and so to put names like this on the paper, it’s I think very, very harsh," he said.
“You have to understand that when a journalist is saying that Ferrari will recruit this name for this position, there is someone who is in this position, and on Sunday evening, the guy will say, okay, tomorrow morning I won’t have a job anymore because if what is in the newspaper is true, that I will have someone in my position.”
And it's the same for all the group working for the guy. We are in this situation on a daily basis now in Italy, and too much is too much.
Vasseur said he'll be speaking with the team in Maranello on Monday about the rumors, but "I'm not a fireman at the end of the day. It's just a matter of respect. We are at this point now that they are able to spread a rumor about someone that I never met in my life."
Williams team principal James Vowles raised his own mic to weigh in, sensing Vasseur’s frustration.
"Fred is an incredibly good leader, and what you see him doing here in front of you today is, he’s shouldering all of this because that’s what we do, and that’s our job to do it," Vowles explained.
His point is actually valid for me. Personally, it’s never caused me grief or upset, but what I’ve seen it do is destroy individuals as a result of one line written by an individual that may or may not know any details behind it.
“It shows you what the power of words are in a positive and a negative sense.”
Clearly this weekend, the negative nature of the words has had an impact — and Fred Vasseur is more than ready for these rumors to pass.
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