Ferrari has again defended Fred Vasseur amid speculation about his future in Formula One, but still avoids publicly confirming that the Frenchman will remain as team principal in 2027.
The CEO of the Scuderia, Benedetto Vigna, denied any rift with Vasseur and stated that trust in the executive remains. Nevertheless, both he and other Ferrari representatives limited their comments to the current scenario, without guaranteeing that the Frenchman’s contract would run through the end of 2027.
A Ferrari renewed Vasseur’s contract on 31 July 2025, with a term planned to last at least through the end of 2027. In practice, however, no one within the Italian team officially confirmed that he would be in charge for the next season.
At the start of the week, the team’s communications chief, Maria Conti, organized a press meeting and reinforced the backing for the team leader: “Ferrari’s position is clear, it hasn’t changed, and Ferrari has already made its choices, and we have confidence, total confidence in Fred Vasseur,” she stated. Vigna adopted a similar tone and declared: “The trust in Fred exists and has always existed.”
However, the silence about 2027 grows heavier because, at the end of September, a list of potential successors had reportedly been drawn up, with Antonello Coletta, in charge of Ferrari’s WEC program, pointed to as the main internal option, while the former F1 driver Jérôme d’Ambrosio would appear as an alternative. Ferrari did not confirm this information nor announce any changes.
Vasseur, for his part, also sought to ease the tension: “Honestly, the relationship I have with my bosses, Benedetto and John, is very good. We are in daily contact, and I can’t complain about the organization,” he said. In Sepang, he also urged calm amid the rumors: “When you see all the noise and all the rumors in the press throughout the week, I think, as a team, we need to work with serenity,” the Frenchman concluded.
So far, Ferrari maintains its confidence in Vasseur and denies any rupture, but nonetheless has remained silent and offered no statement that could definitively quell doubts about his staying on in 2027.
