Ferrari Team Principal Chimes In On Feud Between Wolff And Red Bull Leaders

F1
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 at 16:00
vasseur fred ferrari5

Frederic Vasseur (Ferrari team principal) shared his thoughts on the latest feud between Toto Wolff and his rivals Christian Horner with Oliver Mintzlaff.

Toto Wolff became part of two different feuds during the Miami Grand Prix weekend. The first one started when the CEO of Red Bull, Oliver Mintzlaff, hit back at him for trying to snatch Max Verstappen from the Austrian team.

Mintzlaff asserted that the Mercedes team principal should concentrate on his other challenges as he seems to have many of them now. At the same time, he stated he is 1000% confident Verstappen won't leave Red Bull.

The second feud started when the CEO of McLaren, Zak Brown, suggested Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull is just the first and not the last domino piece to fall, based on the number of CVs he has received from the team from Milton Keynes lately.

Wolff agreed with the McLaren boss, saying he has seen an increased inflow of CV letters from Red Bull at all levels.

The Austrian team principal, Christian Horner, then hit back at Wolff, reminding him that he should focus on his other challenges (similar to what Mintzlaff said) and adding that Red Bull stole 220 people from Mercedes lately to assert dominance.

Watching what was happening between his fellow colleagues, the team principal of Ferrari, Fred Vasseur, decided it would be wiser not to take part in the feud, and he told the media:

"I had the feeling that it (the hostility) was more between Toto [Wolff] and Oliver [Mintzlaff]. A lot of people from all the teams are doing a lot of interviews in Maranello, including Mercedes."
"I don't want to lose energy for the wrong topic. But I think we have a lot to do internally. We have to improve."

Vasseur, in general, seems to have a great and respectful relationship with everyone in the paddock. He retained his close relationship with Toto Wolff even after snatching Lewis Hamilton from him. The team principal of the Italian team added:

"We have to recruit. We have to develop the car. We have a huge amount of time. We have a huge amount of work on the table."
"And I don't want to lose my energy and my time and my budget to fight with my colleagues. It's not my approach at all and I won't go on this field."