New Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has had to deal with a lot of speculation since the Bahrain Grand Prix, with issues having been reported behind-the-scenes at Maranello.
It’s been widely reported that several senior figures are unhappy with the management style of Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna, with former Ferrari head of vehicle concept David Sanchez having announced his departure this week.
Following Sanchez’s departure, it was pondered whether Ferrari could bring Haas technical director Simone Resta back to Maranello, after he left the side in 2021.
Vasseur denied that Resta was an option for the role and hailed the “good job” he’s doing at Haas.
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“Simone is the technical director of one of our customer teams,” Vasseur said as per Autosport. “He’s doing a good job with Guenther and the plan is not to do something on this side.”
Other than Sanchez, race director Laurent Mekies is another key name who’s been linked to a potential departure from Ferrari.
Vasseur has also firmly denied that Mekies will be leaving, with the Frenchman viewing Mekies as an integral part to the team’s “future”.
The Ferrari boss has confirmed, though, that there will be further “people leaving the team”, but that they are continuing to build a “solid group” for the future.
“Honestly it’s the life of the team that we are recruiting a lot each year and we have a turnover each year,” Vasseur said.
“If you want to speak about key people [leaving], I don’t think so.
“But for sure we will have people leaving the team and some people joining the team. It’s like this in every single team in F1.
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“We are a solid group and we are building up a team for the future also, and the link is good. So no, I don’t think that key people will leave the team.”
Vasseur will be hoping for a strong Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend after a disappointing performance in Bahrain, where Charles Leclerc retired following a power unit failure whilst running in third.
As a result of his failure, the 25-year-old will take a 10-place grid penalty at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Sunday.