Martin Brundle slams ‘nuts’ Fred Vasseur rumours as true Ferrari ‘problem’ identified

Martin Brundle believes the last thing Ferrari needs to do at present is look to replace Fred Vasseur as team boss.

Italian media has suggested that Vasseur’s position is coming under scrutiny as the Scuderia has fallen away from competing for outright victories.

Martin Brundle: Who would you replace Fred Vasseur with?

Reports from Corriere dello Sport and Gazzetta dello Sport have suggested that Ferrari’s WEC boss Antonello Coletta could be eyed up to slot into Vasseur’s position as team boss, with the upcoming trio of races – Canada, Austria, and Silverstone – could be critical for the French bosses’ future.

The purported scrutiny is due to Ferrari’s fall back from the very front. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have struggled to consistently finish near the podium places, with victories divided between McLaren and Red Bull.

The Scuderia trail McLaren by 197 points after the first nine race weekends of the championship, having vied with McLaren for the quickest car accolade in the closing stages of 2024.

Ferrari has dismissed the speculation outright when approached on the matter by PlanetF1.com, while Sky F1 broadcaster Martin Brundle believes it would be madness if Ferrari were to swap Vasseur out after two and a half years in charge.

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“There might well be but it would be nuts to change Fred, is he the problem?” he said when asked if he believes there’s any genuine threat to Vasseur’s job.

“I don’t think he’s the problem. At the moment, the car’s not fast enough. Now that’s a collaboration between everybody in the team.

“Who would you replace him with? And then a new broom comes in, and everybody keeps their head down, staff working in silos because they want to see where they stand with their new boss.

“That’s the last thing Ferrari needs to do at the moment. Fred’s got a lot of experience.

“I think he can handle the pressure. I mean, it’s only a year ago I did an interview with him here, and everybody was celebrating what an amazing job he’d done in turning Ferrari around.”

Mercedes’ team boss Toto Wolff has been in his role for over a decade, while Red Bull’s boss Christian Horner has been in charge of his team for over two decades. Ferrari has had three team bosses in the last 10 years, with Maurizio Arrivabene replaced by Mattia Binotto after 2018 before Vasseur succeeded Binotto after 2022.

“This is not a Premier League club where you just keep changing the managers until, eventually, you hopefully find one. You can’t do that, and it would be nuts,” Brundle said.

Put to him that swapping team boss yet again is exactly what Ferrari has done in the past, the British broadcaster said, “[They did do that] and how far did that get them?”

Speaking on Thursday, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton pleaded with the media to “stop making stuff up” and said he wouldn’t be in favour of seeing Vasseur replaced.

“I want Fred here. I do believe Fred is the person to take us to the top,” he said.

The suggestion that Vasseur has come under scrutiny in his role first emerged over the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, but escalated upon the publishing of the reports in Italian media on Thursday.

It left Hamilton unimpressed.

“I don’t think that’s on the cards, as far as I’m aware, and that’s certainly not something that I would be supportive of,” he summed up.

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