Vasseur On Informing Sainz And Wolff About Bad News: 'One Of Most Difficult' Conversations

Wednesday, 14 February 2024 at 19:00

Fred Vasseur reflected on how he had to tell Carlos Sainz and Toto Wolff about the bad news in relation to Lewis Hamilton, saying it was one of his most difficult conversations.

Lewis Hamilton going to Ferrari is incredibly exciting news. It is a fantastic story, great for F1, and most fans welcomed this sudden, unexpected change.

However, people who might not be as enthusiastic about the news are Toto Wolff, who just lost the most successful driver in F1, and Carlos Sainz, who the seven-time World Champion will replace.

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Ferrari's team principal has a great relationship with Sainz and Wolff. However, the recent events resulted in several difficult conversations he had to go through. When asked about giving the bad news to the Spanish driver, Vasseur said, according to motorsport.com:

"As you can imagine, it was not the easiest call of my life, one of the most difficult, with the one with Toto!"

The 29-year-old admitted he was as surprised as everyone else once he discovered Hamilton would replace him. But he also said he is committed to achieving the best possible team result with Ferrari in his last season with the team. Vasseur continued:

"But I'm fully convinced that he a very professional driver, that he understands that it's a long season in front of us, that it's a huge opportunity."

Some speculated that Sainz no longer has a reason to play the ultimate team game as he knows he will be leaving the team at the end of the year no matter what. However, the team principal is convinced the Spaniard will stay fully committed to the team.

"And I think it's also a dream to be in this situation, to have the team behind him. We had a long discussion, so as you can imagine I will be fully supportive of Carlos. He is fully committed, and we know that we have to do the job together. Together, we are professionals."