Charles Leclerc has expressed that Ferrari’s decision to put an end to the rumours surrounding Fred Vasseur‘s position as the team’s boss in Formula 1 is “important”.
Ferrari has announced in the build-up to this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix that Vasseur has penned a new multi-year deal to continue heading the team past 2025.
Both Leclerc and team-mate Lewis Hamilton supported Vasseur when speculation materialised in the Italian media last month that the Frenchman could be replaced.
Ferrari has now moved to silence those reports with the news that Vasseur has signed a renewal to extend his spell at the helm, an outcome that has pleased Leclerc.
“I’m really, really happy,” Leclerc, who worked with Vasseur in his debut F1 season with Sauber in 2018, told media including Motorsport Week.
“It’s not that it’s coming as a surprise, but I’m really happy, especially in the past month there were quite a few rumours, like it’s always the case around the team.
“So to finally have the official news out is important, and I’m really happy.”
Leclerc admits heightened expectations stung Ferrari
The doubts regarding Vasseur’s position had coincided with Ferrari enduring a winless start to 2025, all but ensuring that the side’s title drought is primed to continue.
Leclerc admitted that the heightened expectation that a narrow championship loss in the previous campaign placed on the team augmented the pressure on Vasseur.
“I think the fact that there was so much hype around the team at the moment when we then started the season,” he highlighted.
“I think everybody thought about us going to win the championship. And unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“Then there were some rumours around and that took a bigger proportion than what we would have wanted. But these are not things that we can control.
“I think, as I was saying earlier, I think it’s part of Ferrari. It’s always been the case and it will never change. So we cannot really focus on that.”
“I think the best thing we can do is to try and not think about those things as much as possible.”
Why retaining Vasseur was a wise move by Ferrari
Leclerc has cited that Vasseur’s calm demeanour has cultivated an environment at Ferrari that is better placed to deal with the raw emotion associated with the team.
“He definitely changed the way we are working on different things,” he explained when asked about Vasseur’s impact since replacing Mattia Binotto in 2023.
“But again, I think where Fred made the biggest difference is the way his vision, his overall vision.
“This, he definitely embedded into the team and that’s very, very important.
“I feel like the beauty of Ferrari is the fact that emotionally speaking, it’s always quite intense, but it can also harm us in some ways and especially when tougher times arrive.
“Fred has always had a very cold blood in those moments and helped the team to just be a little bit more lucid. That’s probably the biggest thing that Fred brought to the team.”
And with sweeping changes to the technical regulations on the horizon in 2026, Leclerc is optimistic that retaining Vasseur will enhance Ferrari’s long-term prospects.
“Again, I’m not the one making the decisions whatsoever. I think stability, though, is always very, very important,” he acknowledged.
“Fred is obviously the person we look up to and the person leading the team, and to have him for many more years is definitely a really good thing.
“Also because in Formula 1, it takes time to build something, and especially a successful team.
“So yeah, again, I’m very happy about that, and knowing that I’ll be able to have Fred alongside me for four more years is something that makes me optimistic for the future.”
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