Fred Vasseur takes another swipe at F1’s media for fuelling Ferrari turmoil

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has criticised sections of the F1 media, claiming “aggressive” rumours and speculation about the team led to “unnecessary” turmoil.

Ferrari have endured a disappointing first half of the 2025 F1 season.

They are the only team inside the top four of the constructors’ standings without a victory.

Their 2025 F1 challenger hasn’t lived up to expectations and has been plagued by issues.

While recent upgrades have made Ferrari the second-fastest team, their progress has been thwarted by the fact that Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have to manage their plank wear at the end of races.

This theory was put forward after Leclerc’s pace dropped off at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Leclerc went from challenging for the victory at the Hungaroring to finishing fourth.

Ferrari’s disappointing on-track form led to speculation around Vasseur’s future.

However, Vasseur has recently signed a new deal to keep him as team principal beyond next year.

Vasseur conceded that the speculation around his future - and the team in general - “caused turmoil,” leading him to take a swipe at the press.

“Rumours caused the turmoil,” Vasseur told AMuS. “I didn’t start them; the media did. Neither Ferrari nor I spoke.

“But today, you can’t avoid such interference. I don’t want to tar all journalists with the same brush, but with the internet, reporting has become much more aggressive. There’s a pressure to generate clicks.”

Ferrari rumours “went too far”

Rumours emerged ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix claiming that Vasseur was set to be replaced as team principal.

Vasseur was immediately backed by Leclerc and Hamilton when they spoke to the media on Thursday in Montreal.

The Frenchman went on the defensive 24 hours later, stating that the reports were “disrespectful”.

Vasseur explained that the speculation impacted the team and that his new contract would have been sorted sooner had it not been for the rumours.

“When these rumours first surfaced in Canada, I was really angry, because they went too far,” he added.

“My technical director, Loïc Serra, was accused of not doing a good job. And yet, the 2025 car was practically ready when Loïc started working for us.

“The story with Charles Leclerc was similar. Some people regularly wrote that Charles was going to Mercedes. Nobody cared that he repeatedly confirmed he had a long-term contract with Ferrari.

“That has an impact on the team. In Italy, people react more emotionally. Without this background noise, my talks with Ferrari would have been much quicker.”