Gary Anderson says Ferrari deserve to ‘suffer’ if Fred Vasseur repeats one mistake Mattia Binotto made

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Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur finds himself under pressure for the first time since he took the job in 2023.

Last season saw Ferrari come within 14 points of winning the constructors’ championship for the first time in 17 years.

Aside from Ferrari making a misstep with an update package in Spain, they were very impressive on and off the track, and only a resurgent McLaren denied them the title.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz drove brilliantly throughout the campaign, although the Spaniard already knew his fate was sealed with the signing of Lewis Hamilton on the horizon.

The 2025 season has been a complete contrast to last year’s campaign, with Ferrari almost certainly out of contention to win both championships after just 10 races.

Hamilton believed Ferrari were championship contenders when he first visited the team’s factory at the start of the year.

Unfortunately, team principal Fred Vasseur has overseen a technical shift over the winter break that has taken Ferrari in the wrong direction.

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

Gary Anderson knows all about designing a Formula 1 car, given his work for Jordan, Stewart and Jaguar in his career.

He believes that Ferrari deserve very little sympathy if they’ve repeated a mistake that the team made when now Audi chief Mattia Binotto was in charge.

Gary Anderson worried about Fred Vasseur’s role at Ferrari as team principal and technical director

Anderson was covering the latest difficulties Ferrari are facing for The Race and reviewed the decision-making taking place at the top of the team.

He explained: “That said, I do know that early on internally he tried to make sure that he did have the necessary authority, etc, over all the staffing and how the structure of the company would operate.

“Previously, Ferrari had Mattia Binotto as team principal and effectively still technical director, I said when they made those changes that it was the wrong way to go.

“No one person can do those two jobs. If Ferrari is just letting history repeat itself, then it deserves to suffer.”

When Enrico Cardile left Ferrari in July 2024, Vasseur temporarily took charge as Ferrari’s chassis technical director.

There’s been a suggestion that Cardile’s decisions might have hampered Hamilton’s first Ferrari season, even though the pair never worked together.

It was a critical period of time for determining the direction Ferrari’s current car was going to be developed, and may explain why the Scuderia didn’t take the same step forward as the likes of McLaren and Mercedes.

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

Ferrari chairman John Elkann faces crucial Fred Vasseur decision ahead of contract expiration

Vasseur’s Ferrari contract expires at the end of the season, and he’ll be hoping to prove to chairman John Elkann that he deserves an extension.

However, Vasseur’s future could be settled far sooner than that, putting even more pressure on the upcoming races.

Leclerc’s crash during practice at the Canadian Grand Prix immediately hampered his race weekend and was completely out of Vasseur’s control.

Elkann could have controlled the narrative around Vasseur when stories broke in the Italian press that he was under pressure.

It speaks volumes that those stories were published on the eve of the race in Canada, and it will be fascinating to see how Ferrari perform at the upcoming Australian Grand Prix.