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Scuderia Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has stated that he will "fight like hell" with his former housemate Toto Wolff.
The pair have known each other for a while and have a great relationship. So much so that Vasseur crashed Wolff's house when he first joined Renault in 2016.
While the Frenchman has since moved on from Renault to Alfa Romeo and now to Ferrari, the relationship between the two has stayed intact. However, with Vasseur now joining Ferrari, he will be at loggerheads with the Mercedes boss more often than not as both will be leading a frontrunning team.
Wolff has not had a great relationship with the competitor team bosses, be it Christian Horner of Red Bull or Ferrari's former boss Mattia Binotto.
When questioned by Autosport if his relationship with Wolff could follow the same trajectory, Vasseur said that would not be the case. On the contrary, he considers it to be an advantage, as he said:
“I think globally, it’s an advantage, but we have to be clever. I know that we will fight on track, we will fight with the stewards, we will fight in the FIA, and we will fight for the Concorde Agreement. This is life. But, at the end of the day, I think for the global picture, it’s an advantage also to have a very good collaboration between teams.”
He added:
“And on this side, when the common interest of the teams or F1 will be to have discussions and to find an agreement, I think it will be a huge advantage to have a good relationship.”
Elaborating that he had a good relationship with a few other colleagues, Vasseur said that he would keep the friendship to one side and fight on the track. He stated:
“I also have a good relationship with a couple of other of my colleagues. I think this is always good. Then we have to be clever enough to split completely [this friendship], and you can be sure I will fight like hell with Toto on the track and out of the track!”
Ferrari and Mercedes' leaders fighting won't be a surprise
It's almost inevitable that the Mercedes and Ferrari bosses will clash. The Prancing Horse has reclaimed its status as one of the frontrunners on the grid in 2022 and with both Red Bull Racing and Mercedes fighting over the same piece of track, things are bound to get out of hand.
Toto Wolff did not have a great relationship with Mattia Binotto and with Christian Horner, it's not even been cordial at times. When the stakes are high, expecting everyone to keep their cool is difficult as tempers are bound to flare.
