Wolff: Ferrari won't get anybody better than Vasseur

Vasseur's future in the Ferrari hot seat has been the subject of speculation recently amid reports in Italian claiming his days leading the Reds are numbered while also casting doubt over the future of the team's drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari is not enjoying a strong season in 2025, which is Vasseur's third with the team. The SF-25, a major departure in design from its predecessor, did not turn out to be a decent machine, with Hamilton unable to get his head around it, while Leclerc has been able to drag it to four podium finishes so far.

But Wolff, whose own team has struggled throughout the current set of regulations since 2022, believes Vasseur needs more time to turn things around at Ferrari.

Speaking over the weekend of the Austrian Grand Prix, Wolff said: "In Formula 1 you can't buy time, and you need to give senior leadership the time to get on top of things.

"Jean Todt, if I'm not wrong, joined the team [Ferrari] in 1993. They won the first championship in 2000. Eight years. That's how it goes.

"And it comes in cycles," the Austrian pointed out. "Look at us. I'm not enjoying being in a phase that it's the third year in a row that we're not fighting for a championship.

"We're not useless. We have really good weekends. We're winning races. It's respectable at times. And when it's not good, nobody's questioning whether the top guy is doing a good job or not.

"Leave him the space. Let him do. Allow him to structure an organization that isn't going to grip from day one. Loic [Serra] is there six months or seven months. They need to just let them do," he added, referring to Serra, the former Mercedes engineer who joined Ferrari recently.

Wolff went even further in his praise for his buddy, Vasseur, claiming he would hire him in a heartbeat to replace him at the helm of Mercedes.

"Fred is one of the best racing managers that I know," he went on. "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, and he knows what he's talking about."

However, Wolff acknowledged that being the leader of Scuderia Ferrari comes with extra pressure due to the team's status in Italy.

The Austrian continued: "He's perfectly aware that in Italy, he's like managing the football national team, and 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 [for], because if he wins, he is Jesus Christ. And if you lose, you're a loser.

"That's how Italy is, and that's fantastic. That's the passion that's there, and you've got to embrace that. And maybe that's something he needs to learn.

"But he should be given the confidence to run this team. They won't get anybody better," Wolff insisted in conclusion.

Vasseur was absent from the Ferrari pit wall during the race in Spielberg last Sunday after leaving urgently for "personal reasons".

(Quotes from Motorsport.com)