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Ferrari chairman John Elkann has broken his silence on the growing rumors about team principal Frederic Vasseur's exit from the team. In recent weeks, the Scuderia's performance dipped, with Mercedes and Red Bull passing them in the in-season developmental battle.
Lewis Hamilton had voiced his concern with the team's operations before the summer break. Charles Leclerc, for the first time in months, explicitly stated after an underwhelming Singapore GP last time out that they had become a 'passenger' in the car.
This brought Frederic Vasseur's leadership under scrutiny despite Ferrari giving him a multiyear contract renewal (effective from 2026) in July. Simultaneously, Red Bull finalized the termination of its former team principal, Christian Horner, and rumors about the Briton replacing Vasseur at the Italian team emerged.
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However, John Elkann has put those rumors to sleep by reaffirming his faith in Vasseur.
"I want to affirm our full confidence in the Team Principal, Fred Vasseur, and in the work he is carrying out together with all the colleagues of Scuderia Ferrari — mechanics, engineers, and drivers committed this weekend in Austin," Elkann said in a statement (via F1 reporter Giuliano Duchessa). "I also want to reiterate the importance of teamwork from everyone to keep the focus high on the only goal that matters: always giving our all on the track."
Ahead of the ongoing United States Grand Prix, Frederic Vasseur shared that he knew he would get "exposed" when he signed for Ferrari. However, he admitted that his job was to deal with the pressure and "get results."
Lewis Hamilton issues clear verdict on Christian Horner potentially replacing Frederic Vasseur at Ferrari
On media day in Austin, Texas, ahead of the United States Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was asked about the rumors about Christian Horner replacing Frederic Vasseur as Ferrari Team Principal. The seven-time F1 champion claimed that such speculation was 'distracting' for the team.
He credited the Scuderia's employees and the work that was being put in behind the scenes to overturn their fortunes, saying (via ESPN):
"I don't know where the rumours have come from, so I can't really shed much light on that. These things naturally aren't helpful. I know everyone back at the factory is working incredibly hard, focused, and these sort of rumours can sometimes be distracting."
When asked whether Horner becoming team principal of the Italian team would be a good idea, Hamilton replied:
"No, and I'm not going to entertain those [rumours]."
Both Ferrari drivers had a terrible time in Sprint qualifying during the United States GP weekend. Leclerc qualified in P10 while Hamilton was slightly ahead in P8, with the latter baffled about the gap of eight-tenths to pole. Fortunately, a Turn 1 incident in the Sprint race, which took out both McLaren drivers and Fernando Alonso, helped Hamilton and Leclerc gain multiple positions and ultimately secure a 4-5 result.
