F1 News: Reason for Vasseur’s sudden paddock exit emerges

(GMM) Amid raging speculation about his future in red, the reason Frederic Vasseur (pictured) suddenly left the Red Bull Ring last Sunday has finally emerged.

Just as many suspect that the Ferrari team boss’s three-year contract will not be renewed, he left the scene of the Austrian GP on race-day.

The team cited only “personal reasons” with no further detail, adding fuel to the speculation about his future.

However, it now emerges that Vasseur’s 76-year-old mother Chantal Fontan passed away on the same day. It means the Frenchman is also unlikely to be at Silverstone on Thursday, as it coincides with the funeral in Sainte-Foy-les-Lyon in eastern France.

What will be at the scene of this weekend’s British GP is another upgrade for Ferrari’s 2025 car, according to Eurosport Italia – the long-awaited revised rear suspension.

It is expected to add even more performance to the car, following the floor upgrade in Austria that powered Charles Leclerc to the front row of the grid and the podium.

Lewis Hamilton finished the Austrian GP in P4.

“I think we’ve made progress,” said the seven-time world champion.

“I think the upgrade (in Austria) was quite small – we didn’t really know about it. They didn’t mention it much. But I think it was an improvement and that’s really positive.”

Ferrari is P2 in the constructors’ championship, but also the only top team – including McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes – without a single race win in 2025.

La Gazzetta dello Sport’s Paolo Filisetti traces the car’s problems back to a critical period last year, when 2025 car project manager Enrico Cardile “left the Scuderia on the spot” ahead of his move to Aston Martin.

“It left the Prancing Horse without a technical director – a role assumed temporarily by Frederic Vasseur as he waited for Loic Serra to arrive from Mercedes,” he explained.

“Today, with hindsight, it is understood that those six months of darkness were at the root of the problems with the current car,” Filisetti added.

Serra’s former Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff, urges Vasseur’s superiors to sign a new deal with the Frenchman to end the current speculation and bring calm to the project.

“Fred is one of the best racing managers I know,” the Austrian told Marca sports newspaper. “If I wasn’t here, I’d choose Fred.

“Give him space – let him act,” Wolff added. “Let him structure the organization, which can’t be done in a day. Loic has been there for six or seven months – you have to let him get on with it.”