After only one race this season, Ferrari find themselves in chaos, with multiple parts of the team unhappy with the current situation.
Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from the Bahrain Grand Prix with an energy store related issue whilst Carlos Sainz struggled with tyre degradation and struggled to a P4 finish, behind the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
Following the poor start to the season, Leclerc has reportedly requested a crisis meeting with Ferrari president John Elkann, as he hunts for assurances about the team’s future before committing to a new contract.
Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna was reportedly unhappy with new team principal Fred Vasseur following the Bahrain Grand Prix because of the Frenchman’s decision to travel to and from the race with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
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Being so friendly with a rival is something that does not sit well with Vigna, leading to him becoming disgruntled with Vasseur.
Multiple members of Ferrari staff are also looking to jump ship, with head of concept David Sanchez set to be joined by race director Laurent Mekies in the coming weeks.
Vasseur has now responded to all of this Ferrari chaos, suggesting that things are nowhere near as bad as people are making out.
“I find it difficult to understand why the team becomes a target after only one race,” he told AH.
“As far as the correlation between the simulation and the track in concerned, we are in line.
“That’s why I asked everyone to stay focused on performance and find solutions to reliability issues, because the championship is long.
“Just because you don’t win the first one doesn’t mean you’re offside. Bahrain was bad in some ways and good in others.”
With regards to staff departures, Vasseur has admitted that this was always likely to happen after he replaced former team principal Mattia Binotto.
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“It’s inevitable,” he said.
“There are people who were very close to Mattia and who prefer to leave, which doesn’t bother me. And there are others who have feared for a moment for their future.”
With Red Bull looking out of sight already, Ferrari will be looking to secure the runner up spot in the championship as the bare minimum this season, holding off Mercedes and Aston Martin.