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Ferrari team boss on friendship with Wolff: 'We will fight on track'

Ferrari team boss on friendship with Wolff: 'We will fight on track'

03-02-2023 11:59 Last update: 14:03

GPblog.com

Frederic Vasseur and Toto Wolff maintain a good relationship. The team bosses of Ferrari and Mercedes respectively even briefly lived together in Britain in 2016 when Vasseur became team boss of Renault. Since then, the pair have been good friends, but in 2023 they will undoubtedly (like it or not) often find themselves diametrically opposed. Taking Wolff into account won't do him any more then, as Ferrari's interests come first.

Vasseur does not really see it as a potential problem that he gets on well with Wolff. The 54-year-old Frenchman is ready to be rock-hard with the Mercedes team boss at times when necessary for Ferrari. "I know that we will fight on track, we will fight with the stewards, we will fight in the FIA, and we will fight for the Concorde Agreement. This is life," he told Autosport.com.

Moreover, Mattia Binotto's replacement thinks his good relationship with Wolff could also be beneficial. When there is a common interest of the teams or of Formula 1 where discussions are held and ultimately an agreement has to be reached on something, it can be advantageous to get along well.

Fighting with Mercedes for Leclerc?

One of the possible storylines is that Mercedes will pull for Charles Leclerc at some point. The Monegasque is stuck with Ferrari until 2024 and is free to go wherever he wants after that. The scenario of Lewis Hamilton quitting Formula 1 at the end of 2024 is a realistic one and if Leclerc is still not driving a winning car by then, a switch is quite conceivable.

However, Vasseur revealed last week that there are no talks with Leclerc about a new contract for the time being. "For me it is not the first priority at the moment. We have to start the season very well, then there will be time for the rest. I think it would be wrong to start negotiations at a time when the priority is elsewhere," he said then.