Amidst Suggestion of Mattia Binotto’s Return, Fred Vasseur Silences Critics With Bold Statement About Ferrari

Ferrari’s hiring saga has no end to it. As the oldest and most successful team in the history of F1, the Maranello outfit has enormous resources that can enable it to poach any personnel from rival teams. Despite this massive legacy, the Italian squad has yet to win a World Constructors’ Championship ever since it last attained the trophy in 2008. In fact, it’s been 17 long years since a Scuderia racer won the F1 Drivers’ Championship too, after Kimi Raïkkonen had earned that honor. So, now is the time for Ferrari to buckle up, create a team that wins races, and zero in on the Championship victory.

With the arrival of Fred Vasseur in 2023 in ex-Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto’s place, the F1 town expected major changes. While the Frenchman delivered a shocking announcement that his team had roped in Lewis Hamilton for its 2025 campaign, a single driver could not change the game for the Scuderia. Now, what the team needs is an arsenal full of skilled engineers who can build race cars that rival Red Bull and Mercedes’ machines. And who can be a better match for this post than the British aero-wizard Adrian Newey?

However, Vasseur has been unable to settle with Newey to bring him to Ferrari yet. This has led some pundits like Leo Turrini to wonder if the Frenchman is capable enough to strike a deal with heavyweight personnel like Adrian Newey. Turrini even spoke about the possibility of Mattia Binotto’s return if Vasseur feels like he is not up for the job of leading such a massive team as the Scuderia. However, Fred Vasseur has now responded to claims about the competence of his leadership. Vasseur talked to AMuS about this, saying, “That’s how it looks from the outside. I made the decision to keep quiet about personnel issues.”

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via Reuters

Poll of the dayDo you think Fred Vasseur’s bold statement will silence Ferrari’s critics?

Coming down hard on his critics, the ex-Alfa Romeo Team Principal also spoke about the numerous engineers he has already silently recruited on Ferrari’s behalf. He continued, “We’ve hired around 50 engineers from other teams since I’ve been here. I could send out a press release every week and communicate the names. What would that achieve? I don’t like singling out individuals. The team is important.” While the 56-year-old refused to single out individual recruits, it is no secret that his eyes are on hiring Adrian Newey right now. So, what was his strategy to get Newey to move to Italy and join Ferrari?

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Fred Vasseur wants Hamilton to be an example for NeweyHaving won 12 World Championships for three different F1 teams, Adrian Newey has huge demand, even at 65. The Englishman announced he will leave Red Bull in early 2025 after spending 19 years with the team. Now, a number of crews want to lap him up, but Ferrari has emerged as one of the frontrunners. However, Scuderia boss Fred Vasseur knows that for a Brit to move to Italy might be a major decision. So, he wants to lure Newey by citing Lewis Hamilton as an example.

via Imago

Hamilton is also a UK native who will move to Maranello to fulfill his Ferrari duties next year. According to Vasseur, if the 7-time World Champion can do it, so can Newey. Thus, the Frenchman said, “Most [F1 technicians] are in the UK. If you move from Mercedes in Brackley to Red Bull in Milton Keynes you keep the children at the same school, you keep the same house. Coming to Italy, it’s a different story. The move of Lewis will help us.”

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While Fred Vasseur is busy thinking of ways to lure Adrian Newey to his team, the rival squads are not going to wait for him. As the noise about Mattia Binotto’s arrival at Ferrari seems to be increasing, Vasseur needs to crack the whip and set things in motion to build a dream team for the Scuderia for 2025. Will Newey join the Italian outfit next year? What do you think? Share in the comments below.