Will Buxton tells John Elkann to ‘butt out’ and let Fred Vasseur work his ‘magic’ at Ferrari

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Ferrari chairman John Elkann has been told to ‘butt out’ and let team principal Fred Vasseur run the team if they want to win again in Formula 1.

Vasseur has been under pressure to deliver results in Maranello after going winless in 2025 and not winning a championship since he was appointed as team principal in 2023.

Elkann publicly criticised Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton last year for their lack of results. But Will Buxton thinks he and the board should take a step back in 2026 and let the team principal work to his own devices.

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Speculation around Vasseur’s future recently reignited after it was announced that Max Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, would be joining McLaren in 2028. Along with the signing, it was reported that Andrea Stella is being linked with a return to Ferrari.

While McLaren refuted the claims, Elkann reportedly wants Stella as Ferrari team principal. He wants to have an Italian spearheading the Prancing Horse.

Ferrari need to let Fred Vasseur work his ‘magic’ at Ferrari and run the team as he wishes, Will Buxton says

But Buxton believes that Vasseur should be given the time to work his ‘magic’, pointing out how successful he was in the junior categories. He also referenced Jean Todt’s time at Ferrari, who won multiple championships when given complete freedom.

He said via Up To Speed: “If they want to be winning more, they just need to butt out more. John Elkann, the board, just, if you let Fred do what Fred does without the politics, without the pressure, just let Fred be Fred.

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“If you look back through Fred’s career, what he achieved at the junior level all the way through, everything Fred touched turned to gold when he was able to run it the way that he saw fit.

“It’s magic. It’s absolute magic. And when Ferrari was last at their most successful, it’s when there was a delineation between the board and the race team.

“When Jean Todt in the early 2000s was able to run that team and Luca di Montezemolo, who was running Ferrari at that point, essentially said, ‘Okay, Jean, it’s your team. You run it the way you see fit.”

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

David Coulthard says Ferrari have to ‘strengthen in all areas’

Co-host David Coulthard, however, did not shy away from the fact that Vasseur is still under pressure, despite signing a new contract in 2025. He reckons that Ferrari will be thinking that they need to win more than they currently are.

“Ferrari have got to be looking to strengthen in all areas. I don’t think the lack of performance of the car has got anything to do with Fred Vasseur.

“Again, I mentioned to you before about Ron Dennis saying that he didn’t design the car. He was a team principal.

“But the team principal right now isn’t going to be looking for a replacement to himself. But maybe the controlling family are saying, ‘Look, we’re Ferrari. We should be winning a lot more than we have been over the last few years.”