Ferrari team principal Frederick Vasseur has refused to discuss the motivation behind Laurent Mekies’ imminent departure from his current role as sporting director.
Mekies was recently announced as the new team principal at AlphaTauri, replacing Franz Tost, who has been in the post since 2005.
“I think for this you have to ask to Laurent,” Vasseur told Motorsport.com
“But it’s true that if you want to become the team principal of an F1 team, you have 10 jobs in the world. It’s not that you can find it everywhere.
Want to work in Formula 1? Browse the latest F1 job vacancies
“It means that if it was the personal goal of Laurent, I can perfectly understand this.
“You have to be ambitious. Laurent is as an ambitious person, and I think he did a very good job for Ferrari. And I can understand the motivation and the expectation points.”
There has been speculation in the Italian press in recent weeks that Mekies could be due to depart the team, with claims that he is frustrated after he was passed over for the top job at Ferrari.
Vasseur was poached by Ferrari at the end of 2023, replacing Matteo Binotto who had disappointed with poor strategy calls throughout the season.
READ: Lewis Hamilton breaks silence on Charles Leclerc replacement rumour
Under Vasseur’s leadership, Ferrari has struggled to get off the mark, as the team left Australia with zero points following a DNF and penalty.
Charles Leclerc’s DNF in Australia marked the second time this season he has exited a Grand Prix early, leaving the Monegasque in 10th place in the Driver’s Standings and Ferrari in fourth in the Constructors’ race.
Both Leclerc and Sainz had a much stronger Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the Monegasque driver scoring his first podium of 2023.