Benedetto Vigna, the chief executive of Ferrari, has admitted that rival F1 teams seem to operate “more smoothly” than the Scuderia.
Ferrari has endured a disappointing F1 2025 season with the team on course for its first winless campaign since 2021.
Ferrari CEO: ‘Other teams run more smoothly
Charles Leclerc has been limited to just seven podium finishes, with teammate Lewis Hamilton – a high-profile signing from Mercedes last winter – yet to record a top-three finish with his new team.
Rumours ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix in June claimed that Ferrari was considering replacing Vasseur in light of the team’s challenging start to the season.
The team moved to silence the speculations surrounding Vasseur’s future by handing the Frenchman a new multi-year contract in July.
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With Ferrari still without a win, however, doubts about Vasseur’s place resurfaced last month amid reports that the team had opened talks with former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
PlanetF1.com understands that Ferrari made an approach to Horner prior to his departure from Red Bull in July.
However, talk of Horner to Ferrari is believed to be wide of the mark with the ex-Red Bull boss thought to be seeking a shareholding or team-ownership-style role upon his expected F1 comeback.
After John Elkann, the Ferrari chairman, gave a vote of confidence to Vasseur ahead of last month’s United States Grand Prix, chief executive Vigna has conceded that other teams run more smoothly.
And he has insisted that the team will “continue to work in a united and cohesive way” across the remaining four races in Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Vigna said: “There are other teams where everything seems to run more smoothly than it does for us.
“So we need to make sure that all the ingredients necessary to win are functioning properly.
“The podium in Mexico makes us happy, but we must keep our feet on the ground.
“Unfortunately, the season has not gone the way we expected.
“We will continue to work in a united and cohesive way because there are still four races to go, and we must give our best to see how things end.”
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Elkann said at the 50th anniversary of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) in Washington, D.C., last month “I want to express our full confidence in team principal Fred Vasseur and in the work he is doing together with all his colleagues at Scuderia Ferrari – the mechanics, engineers and drivers who are busy this weekend in Austin.
“I would also like to reiterate the importance of teamwork on everyone’s part in order to maintain focus on the only goal that matters: always giving our best on the track.”
Responding to Elkann’s comments, Vasseur claimed that the Ferrari chairman’s speech was targeted at a mysterious “third party.”
He told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: “For everybody it’s good to have this kind of message.
“But as we have a permanent contact, we already had the message. That [Elkann’s speech] was more for the third party and external target.”
Pressed on how significant Mr Elkann’s words were to him personally, Vasseur added: “Yes, it’s important.
“Because, like this, you stop the discussion and you are focused on the next one and not to reply to all the questions about this.”
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock