Fred Vasseur ‘only has until this summer’ to save his Ferrari job as F1 driver headache emerges

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Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is going into the 2026 Formula 1 season knowing that his job could be on the line if the Scuderia fail to improve on last year’s struggles.

Fred Vasseur oversaw a difficult 2025 for Ferrari, where neither driver was able to secure a Grand Prix victory.

Lewis Hamilton had to settle for success in the Sprint Races during his first year with the team, while Charles Leclerc secured all seven of Ferrari’s podiums last season.

Vasseur signed a new contract last season, but patience at Maranello only lasts so long, as many of his predecessors would tell him.

Ferrari have made a good start to 2026 based on their performances in pre-season testing, but the tifosi will be well aware that they can’t expect the team to be at the front of the pack based purely on Leclerc setting the fastest lap time in Bahrain.

READ MORE: Who is Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur? Everything you need to know

Fred Vasseur ‘only has until this summer’ to convince Ferrari not to sack him according to F1 paddock rumours

Journalists Rebecca Clancy and Mark Mann-Bryans were speaking on the Inside the Piranha Club Podcast about Ferrari.

Clancy suggested: “I think Fred Vasseur is under pressure as well.

“You mentioned there about the talk last year about his job not being safe, and then obviously they gave him a new contract in July.

“But obviously the rumours in the paddock now are that actually he still only has until this summer, and if the car isn’t performing by the summer then his job is at risk.

Who should Ferrari make team principal if they sack Fred Vasseur?

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“So I think if only he had the headache of whether to pick Leclerc or Hamilton, he would love that; otherwise, I think we could see more change and more disruption within Ferrari.”

Mann-Bryans replied: “Nothing but winning is enough, is it for Ferrari? Let’s be honest. It doesn’t matter really.

“You can take as many podiums as you like. But to the tifosi, it’s all about being on the top step and winning those championships.”

A report from the Swiss outlet Blick has also suggested that Vasseur is ‘under pressure’, with the Italian media ‘sharpening their knives’ already.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Fred Vasseur says Ferrari hits their targets during Bahrain testing ahead of the Australian GP

Ferrari created plenty of headlines in Bahrain as they showed off several innovations that the rest of the grid hadn’t thought of.

Andrea Stella was admiring Ferrari’s exhaust, which appears to be longer than any other team’s based on testing.

It’s also believed Ferrari have a small turbo in their power unit compared to the rest of the grid due to concerns over turbo lag at race starts.

The most eye-catching development was Ferrari’s flipping rear wing, and while it only appeared for a few laps on day five of running, it would have given the rest of the teams on the grid plenty to think about.

Reflecting on testing in his official post-session debrief, Vasseur said: “Our target was to do a lot of mileage, and I think this went pretty well, to collect data, to try to improve session after session, and I think this went well.

“Now, performance is not relative – it’s not performance relative and, at the end of the day, we don’t know the level of fuel of the others, we don’t know the engine mode, we don’t know that we didn’t have the same tyres.

“It means that, let’s be focused on ourselves to try to do a better job in Melbourne and this weekend, and we’ll see where we are.”