03/07/2025 12:40
Toto Wolff has insisted Ferrari will not be able to find a better
team principal than Fred Vasseur, whilst imploring the media to
"leave him the space" to turn things around. The Frenchman has been
under considerable pressure in recent weeks amid Ferrari's
disappointing start to the F1 season. Even though the
Maranello-based squad sits second to McLaren in the constructors'
standings, it is 207 points adrift, a far cry from last year when
it ran the Woking outfit close to a first title since 2008.
Expectations of championship glory have led Ferrari to quickly
change team principals in the past decade when success has not been
quickly forthcoming, and with Vasseur having assumed the mantle at
Ferrari for the 2023 campaign, the voices of dissent in Italy are
only growing louder. Wolff highlighted how Jean Todt, who was at
the helm during the Michael Schumacher era, was afforded time to
right the ship over much of the 1990s. The Mercedes boss underlined
how rare it is for team principals to last in the position,
playfully calling himself and Christian Horner "dinosaurs" and
comparing Ferrari's current plight to his own situation. "It seems
to be a bit of a revolving door with teams in general," the
Austrian told media, including RacingNews365 . "I think Christian
[Horner] and I are the only dinosaurs left, with many of you here
in the room. "In Formula 1, you can't buy time, and you need to
give the senior leadership the time to get on top of things.
"Today, we talked about Jean Todt, [who], if I'm not wrong, joined
the team [Ferrari] in 1993, they won the first [drivers']
championship in 2000 - eight years [later]. "That's how it goes,
and it comes in cycles. Look at us [Mercedes]. I'm not enjoying
being in a phase that is the third year in a row that we are not
fighting for a championship. "We're not useless, we have really
good weekends. We're winning races. It's respectable at times. And
when it's not good, nobody's questioning, in a way, whether the top
guy is doing a good job or not." 'They won't get anybody better'
The 53-year-old staunchly defended Vasseur's record, arguing he
would take him at Mercedes if he were not already in the role.
Wolff was adamant Ferrari "won't get anyone better" than the
56-year-old and pointed out how he would be revered like "Jesus
Christ" in Italy if he can return to Scuderia to its former glory.
"Leave him [Vasseur] the space," he added. "Let him do. Allow him
to structure an organisation that isn't going to grip from day one.
Loic [Serra, chassis technical director] has been there six months
or seven months. They need to just let them do. "Fred is one of the
best racing managers that I know. If I weren't here, I would take
Fred. So, I respect him a lot; he's a great personality, he's a
straightforward guy, he doesn't deal in politics and lies, and he
knows what he's talking about. "He just needs to be given the trust
to run this. He's perfectly aware that in Italy, it's like managing
the football national team, and you're gonna have the scrutiny from
the media, maybe that's something [for which] you need to grow a
little bit of a thick skin, because if he wins, he is Jesus Christ,
and if you lose, you're a loser. "That's how Italy is, and that's
fantastic. That's the passion that is in there, and you've got to
embrace that, and maybe have something he needs to learn. "But the
rest, he should be given the confidence in running this team. They
won't get anybody better."
