With the change from clean-up Frédéric Vasseur to Ferrari, the team boss domino in Formula 1 is entering the next round.
The Scuderia poached the 54-year-old Frenchman from the partner team Alfa Romeo and finally wants to end the untitled time with him. Vasseur was quoted as saying in a statement that he was “delighted and honored” to get what is probably the most difficult job in Formula 1. He succeeds Mattia Binotto, who has to leave Ferrari after four hapless years at the helm.
The royal personalities among the team bosses have thus been clarified. But the interplay continues. It was only on Monday that Williams surprisingly announced the retirement of the German Jost Capito (64) as race manager. His successor is open.
Seidl becomes Vasseur’s successor
Andreas Seidl takes over Vasseur’s job at Alfa Romeo. This left the McLaren team and switched to the Sauber racing team. As the team driving as Alfa Romeo announced, the 46-year-old will join as the new managing director in January. The Swiss racing team Sauber will drive in Formula 1 as an Audi factory team from 2026.
There is already a successor for Seidl at McLaren: the team will be led by Italian Andrea Stella with immediate effect. Seidl had managed the British racing team since 2019 and brought it back to the extended top of Formula 1.
At Ferrari, Vasseur’s signing is a change of strategy. After the departure of Jean Todt, who together with Michael Schumacher stood for the Scuderia’s most successful Formula 1 era, all team bosses came from within the company. Stefano Domenicali, Marco Mattiaci, Maurizio Arrivabene and most recently Binotto were promoted from within their own ranks. But Ferrari has been waiting for another driver’s title since Kimi Raikkonen’s World Championship triumph in 2007, when it was still under Todt’s direction.
Vasseur wants to deliver for Tifosi
Vasseur is set to change that now. He wanted to “deliver for our Tifosi all over the world,” promised Vasseur. The Frenchman is scheduled to take office on January 9th. He has been team boss at Sauber since mid-2017. Previously, he had already been race director at Renault.
Vasseur has been involved in motorsport for more than 25 years and has already made a name for himself as a youth promoter. As ART team boss, he also put current Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc on the road to Formula 1. “He believed in me and we always had a good relationship,” Leclerc recently said. In 2018, the Monegasque drove his first full Formula 1 season at Sauber under Vasseur.
In the past World Cup year, Leclerc finished second behind Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. After three races, the 25-year-old was even 46 points ahead of the Dutchman. Driving mistakes, strategy failures and technical damage cost an even better result. Because of the renewed failure, team boss Binotto has to go. Now Vasseur should fix it.
