Carlos Sainz has defended Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur after recent reports cast doubt over his position at the team following a difficult start to the 2025 Formula 1 season.
The Frenchman has faced criticism from the Italian media as the Italian marque trails McLaren by 197 points in the Constructors’ Championship after nine rounds.
Ferrari has dismissed the mounting speculation that Vasseur could be set to be replaced unless results improve, going as far as to label the reports as pure “fantasy”.
Without a race win so far in 2025, the team is falling short of the high expectations set at the start of the season, having narrowly missed out on the Constructors’ title in 2024.
Sainz, replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, played a key role in securing that second-place finish in the previous campaign before parting ways and moving to Williams.
Now settled with the British outfit, he has aided Williams’ rise to fifth in the standings, though he trails team-mate Alex Albon by 30 points in the Drivers’ Championship.
Ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, the Spaniard was asked about the latest rumours surrounding his former boss, replying candidly with a pointed remark aimed at the F1 media.
“Same story as always, the moment that the results don’t click in Ferrari, there’s always finger-pointing by the media, and all this chaos happening,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“For me, it’s all about focusing on the process and delivering when it matters.
“But if you ask me, Fred, I have a great relationship with him. In the past, obviously, we went through a tough month where he didn’t want me and signed Lewis, but apart from that, we made peace about it, and I get on well, and I always rated him as a team principal and as a person.”
Sainz admits Ferrari struggles a surprise
When asked about Ferrari’s struggles this season, Sainz reflected on his final months with the team and offered insight into what he believed was shaping up to be a title challenge.
“I can only talk about my time there when I left, and my feeling is that the team, the car, we felt like we were ready to fight for our championship,” he added.
“I thought, honestly, Ferrari could be in the fight for the championship this year. That’s what I communicated to Charles [Leclerc], [and] to the team. For me, everything was coming into place.
“I had zero involvement in the development of the 25’ cars, so I don’t know where they went with the balance, with the setup, and why they are struggling to get a result this year out of it.
“At the same time, probably, McLaren is just doing an excellent job. If McLaren is doing such a good job, then it doesn’t matter how good you do, there’s just someone performing at a very high level with two super strong drivers and doing very, very good in F1 right now, and that is McLaren.”
READ MORE – Ferrari quashes mounting reports over Fred Vasseur’s position
