Formula 1: Frederic Vasseur signs new Ferrari deal as team principal

The move constitutes an expression of faith in Vasseur’s leadership after the first hitch this year in progress under him.

Vasseur was appointed after Ferrari removed his predecessor Mattia Binotto, following a 2022 season which the team started as the fastest on the grid but saw their title challenge collapse through poor reliability, stuttering car development compared to rivals Red Bull and operational failings.

Bequeathed a difficult car at the start of 2023, Vasseur led a turnaround to the point that Ferrari were the only team to win a race other than Red Bull that season, with Carlos Sainz in Singapore.

Last year, after a slow start, they came on strong in the second part of the season and narrowly missed out on beating McLaren to the constructors’ title.

It was McLaren’s first such triumph since 1998; it would have been Ferrari’s since 2008.

Vasseur was also instrumental in Ferrari signing seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton over the winter of 2023-24 to join Charles Leclerc in their driver line-up starting from this season.

However, expecting to progress and fight for both titles in 2025, Ferrari have struggled this season.

Hamilton won the sprint race in China, the second race of the season, from pole position, but has scored no grand prix podium positions.

Leclerc has five, his best result a second place in Monaco.

Ferrari are second in the constructors’ championship, 268 points behind McLaren and 28 ahead of Mercedes in third.

Leclerc and Hamilton are fifth and sixth in the drivers’ championship, behind the leading drivers for the Red Bull and Mercedes teams, Max Verstappen and George Russell, both of whom have won at least one race.