John Elkann wants Andrea Stella to replace Fred Vasseur and it has nothing to do with Ferrari form

Follow us on Google Discover

Ferrari chairman John Elkann is now believed to be looking at McLaren team principal Andrea Stella to replace Fred Vasseur, as he wants an Italian in charge of the Scuderia.

Vasseur has stood at the Ferrari helm since December 2022, when he took over from Mattia Binotto in Maranello. The Frenchman even joined Ferrari from Sauber at the same time that Stella replaced Andreas Seidl as the team principal of McLaren ahead of the 2023 F1 season.

McLaren have reaped the rewards from promoting Stella, as they have won the past two F1 constructors’ titles and Lando Norris lifted the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship. Before those triumphs, McLaren had not taken the teams’ title since 1998 or the drivers’ title since 2008.

Vasseur has used his time in charge of Ferrari to put processes in place that he hopes to see bring titles back to Maranello. Ferrari last won the drivers’ title with Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, and failing to win the teams’ title since 2008 also makes this their longest drought in history.

Eight key figures gone in three years at Red Bull – Which exit hurts Red Bull the most? 🤔

Let us know in the comments!

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

John Elkann wants to hire Andrea Stella so Ferrari have an Italian team principal

But beyond results, RTL reporter Felix Gorner believes Ferrari chairman Elkann wants to hire Stella to replace Vasseur as he wants an Italian at the helm in Maranello. McLaren’s move to hire Red Bull head of racing Gianpiero Lambiase could also help Elkann to realise his project.

READ MORE: All to know about Max Verstappen’s F1 race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase

McLaren confirmed on Thursday that Lambiase will join from Red Bull no later than the 2028 season to become their chief racing officer. Stella partly instigated McLaren’s deal to appoint Lambiase, but Gorner understands that the papaya crew see the latter as their future leader.

Gorner told sport.de: “Lambiase is leaving with the prospect of a career move. He is being groomed to succeed Andrea Stella as team principal at McLaren. Perhaps things will move more quickly, as early as January 1, 2028.

“This could also trigger another shake-up in Formula 1, with Stella potentially replacing Fred Vasseur at Ferrari, according to the plan of Ferrari boss John Elkann, who would like to have Stella – an Italian – at the Scuderia.”

You’re Ferrari, what do you do – Hire Andrea Stella or keep Fred Vasseur?

Let us know in the comments!

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

It was initially claimed when the reports first emerged on Thursday about Lambiase’s switch from Red Bull that Stella has already agreed a pre-contract with Ferrari. But McLaren quickly shut down any suggestions that Lambiase’s move for 2028 hinted at Stella leaving the team.

McLaren insist that Lambiase will work under Stella and CEO Zak Brown, with their move for his services made to take some of the strain from the race weekend role off Stella. Lambiase is expected to adopt a senior role in McLaren’s race operations to give Stella more freedom.

So, while Elkann might want Stella – who worked at Ferrari from 2000 to 2014 – to take over from Vasseur, the Italian looks set to stay at McLaren. Stella was a performance engineer for Michael Schumacher and Raikkonen when the German and Finnish duo won titles at Ferrari.