Toto Wolff Defends Fred Vasseur Over Criticism at Ferrari Formula 1 Team!

Fred Vasseur earns the backing of fellow team principal

The Formula 1 season of 2025 is witnessing a lot of turmoil among the teams. There have been replacements and sudden demotions in majority of the teams since the first month. Recently, it was Christian Horner’s turn at Red Bull Racing. He was axed by the Red Bulls due to internal reasons. Some weeks ago, it was Fred Vasseur who was supposedly going to get replaced at Ferrari.

After Horner’s sacking, there are numerous reports about how Ferrari may end up bringing him to the team. This also implies that the team wants to get rid of Fred Vasseur. Even though Vasseur was able to bring the team back on track, the lack of performance in 2025 is working against him. Formula 1 experts have warned against replacing Fred Vasseur. Since Lewis Hamilton came to the team on account of Vasseur, it is highly probable that he will leave Ferrari with Vasseur.

Toto Wolff Warns Ferrari Against Lack of Better Options for Team Principal

Toto Wolff publicly backed up Fred Vasseur as the best option Ferrari can hope for. He quoted their former team principal and one of best in F1 history, Jean Todd as a reference. Wolff explains that it takes a set time to get the rhythm and start winning races and championships.

“I think in F1, you can’t buy time, and you need to give senior leadership the time to get on top of things. Today we talked about Jean Todt. Jean Todt, if I’m not wrong, joined the team in 1993 and they won the first championship in 2000. ‘93, ‘94, ‘95, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99, 2000. Eight years. That’s how it goes, and it comes at cycles.”

He talks about his own experience at Mercedes for the past three years, the team dominated the Formula 1 grid for years. Although, they have struggling heavily for the past three years. He calls out the teams and critics for bias against a person’s work. Wolff explains how no-one dares questioning the team principal when everything is going smoothly.

"He's remarrying, you have taken over!" 😂

Toto Wolff and Fred Vasseur are able to see the funny side of Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari 😅#F175LIVE pic.twitter.com/UpWvn5sTSW
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 18, 2025

“Fred is one of the best racing managers that I know. If I wasn’t here, I would take Fred. So, I respect him a lot. He’s a great personality. He’s a straightforward guy. He doesn’t do politics and lies. Fred knows what he’s talking about. He just needs to be given the trust to run this. He’s perfectly aware that in Italy, it’s like managing the football national team. You’re going to have the scrutiny from the media.”

“Maybe that’s something you need to grow a little bit of a thick skin, because if he wins, he is Jesus Christ, and if you lose, you’re a loser. That’s how Italy is. It’s fantastic. That’s the passion that is in there. You’ve got to embrace that. Maybe that’s something he needs to learn. But the rest, he should be given the confidence in running this team. They won’t get anybody better.”

Toto Wolff himself earned praise from his former team members, James Vowles and Andy Cowell, who are team principals for Williams F1 and Aston Martin F1.

Ferrari are currently second in the constructor’s standings. However, they are far away from making progress and actually winning races or podiums. The team needs to set things straight instead of making abrupt changes to the current structure.

Ferrari Formula 1 Team

Formula 1 2025 Season

Fred Vasseur

Toto Wolff

Rohan Singh

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I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in NHL, Formula 1 and Motorsports. I got into online journalism a couple of years ago. I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer.