Frédéric Vasseur is an unlikely paradigm breaker at first glance. The Ferrari team principal’s somewhat grumpy resting facial expression soon gives way to a twinkling eye and a ready laugh; he’s Formula 1’s equivalent of Albert Le Blanc, the children’s story about the saddest-looking bear the other toys have ever seen who turns out to be a big roly-poly bundle of joy.
But Vasseur has steel beneath the warm, avuncular exterior. It has not always been apparent in his eight years in F1, managing the Renault, Sauber/Alfa Romeo and now Ferrari teams. But it certainly is now. The 55-year-old Frenchman is the key that unlocked the biggest driver move in F1 for a decade; perhaps even ever – Lewis Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari for 2025.
When Vasseur was asked what it was like delivering the bad news to Carlos Sainz, who is now looking for a drive for next season, he said wryly: “It was not the easiest call of my life. But the one that was most difficult was the one with Toto.” Vasseur and his opposite number at Mercedes are very close friends, who go back a long way.
Hamilton won with Vasseur’s team in both Formula 3 and GP2 before he graduated to F1, and the experience clearly made an impression. “We
