In 2023, Fred Vasseur took charge of Ferrari by replacing Mattia Binotto. But Formula 1 expert Tom Rubython, the editor in chief of Business F1, opines it’s not the right transition enforced by the Italian team and was influenced by “Charles Leclerc and Jean Todt mafia”.
In an editorial article published in the May edition of the magazine, Rubython made such accusations and was in full praise of Binotto. He claimed that the former Ferrari team principal was someone to lead the team in the future.
“Unfortunately, John Elkann and Bendetto Vigna, who are great businessmen but have little real experience of F1, were influenced by Charles Leclerc and Todt mafia to replace Binotto with their man Vasseur. There is nothing wrong with Vasseur, but he is not of the quality to be team principal of the great Ferrari team,” wrote Rubython.
Tom Rubython echoes Christian Horner
Red Bull boss Christian Horner was one of the biggest voices to criticize Binotto’s sacking. He questioned Ferrari’s decision to fire his counterpart when over the last two years, Binotto mapped the revival of Ferrari,
Horner even talked about how Ferrari should apply the Red Bull mantra, where they keep faith in their key men even when things aren’t right. Because of that, the Milton-Keynes-based team has once again managed to dominate the sport with the same people serving on the board.
Meanwhile, Ferrari has seen many changes in the leadership in the same time frame to achieve instant success. Now, Vasseur is in charge, and it remains to be seen whether he can change his team’s fortune.
What is Ferrari doing under Fred Vasseur?
Soon after Binotto was fired, Vassuer became the obvious replacement as his links with Ferrari increased with every passing day. However, it was also known that the new team boss didn’t make any radical changes in the team and went on with Binotto’s pending work.
Ferrari also had the worst start of the season since 2009, as they only collected 26 points from the first three races of the season. Only in Azerbaijan did the team make a good recovery by amassing 36 points.
So, indeed the pressure is on Vasseur. However, since this is his first season in charge, and the 54-year-old couldn’t possibly do much under the allotted time frame before the season, he is expected to have a longer rope by Ferrari.
