Ferrari announce Fred Vasseur as their new team boss, replacing Mattia Binotto… with the departing Alfa Romeo chief to be reunited with star driver Charles Leclerc
Fred Vasseur will take over as Ferrari team principal after leaving his role with Alfa Romeo.
The 54-year-old Frenchman will join the Italian team on January 9 as a replacement for Mattia Binotto.
Binotto is stepping down from the Formula One team at the end of the year after a campaign which saw a catalogue of Ferrari errors harm Charles Leclerc’s hopes of winning the driver’s title.
Fred Vasseur has been appointed as the new team principal for Ferrari, starting January 9
Binotto resigned last month following a season that was riddled with strategic errors
Binotto will be succeeded by Vasseur, who in six seasons with Alfa Romeo led the team from bottom of the constructors’ championship to sixth this last year – their highest finish since 2012.
Vasseur said: ‘I am truly delighted and honoured to take over the leadership of Scuderia Ferrari as team principal.
‘As someone who has always held a lifelong passion for motorsport, Ferrari has always represented the very pinnacle of the racing world to me.
Binotto lost the confidence of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc (right) following several errors
‘I look forward to working with the talented and truly passionate team in Maranello to honour the history and heritage of the Scuderia and deliver for our Tifosi around the world.’
Ferrari started the season impressively but errors quickly blew their chances of troubling Max Verstappen and Red Bull for the drivers’ or constructors’ titles.
‘With the regret that this entails, I have decided to conclude my collaboration with Ferrari,’ Binotto, who joined Ferrari in 1995, said after tendering his resignation last month.
‘I am leaving a company that I love, which I have been part of for 28 years, with the serenity that comes from the conviction that I have made every effort to achieve the objectives set.
‘I leave a united and growing team. A strong team, ready, I’m sure, to achieve the highest goals, to which I wish all the best for the future.
Leclerc (left) has worked previously alongside Vasseur (right) when they were at Sauber
‘I think it is right to take this step at this time as hard as this decision has been for me.’
Vasseur’s name was mooted in Italian media last month, only for Ferrari to dismiss reports as ‘totally without foundation’.
He has now been appointed and it will be a reunion for Vasseur and Leclerc, having first worked together back in 2016.
They then also experienced working together across 2017 and 2018 with Sauber.
‘We have to expect that Leclerc doesn’t drive for us for long!’ Vasseur said back in 2018. ‘That’s why we enjoy every good result from him!’
