John Elkann, Ferrari chairman, has expressed his full confidence in team principal Fred Vasseur after rumours emerged of a swap pertaining the current leader and Christian Horner.
Ferrari sit in third on the Formula 1 team standings on 334 points and with five races left in the season, they are yet to pick up a race victory.
That performance has fuelled fire in the media of who would pull Ferrari out of this years stint of poor performance. And the team has come out swinging regarding questions of Horner joining the Maranello team.
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“I want to express our full confidence in our team principal, Fred Vasseur, and in the work he is carrying out together with all our colleagues at Scuderia Ferrari – the mechanics, engineers, and drivers competing this weekend in Austin,” said Elkann.
Lewis Hamilton, Frederic Vasseur and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari ahead of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix. NurPhoto via Getty Images
“I also want to reaffirm the importance of teamwork by everyone to maintain focus on the only goal that matters: always giving our very best on the track.”
The ex-Red Bull team principal was seen at Singapore Grand Prix “ringing up every team” but Ferrari denounced the notion that Horner will be joining their garage, both internally and externally for “third party” media.
“For everybody, it’s good to have this kind of message,” Vasseur said.
“But as we have a permanent contact, we already had the message, that it was more for the third party and external target.
“It’s important because like this, you stop the discussion and you are focused on the next [race] and not to reply to all the questions about this.”
Last year in Austin, drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz posted the team’s first 1-2 finish after 18 years.
Charles Leclerc holds up his second place trophy after the Formula 1 F1 Grand Prix of United States. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
This year, Leclerc found himself on the third step of the podium while Lewis Hamilton came home behind him in fourth place.
When asked about Hamilton and his strong pace during the United States Grand Prix, after dismal showings in previous races, Vasseur stated that “Lewis is back.”
Both drivers have dealt with comments flying about their team’s leadership and Hamilton admitted the noise is “distracting.”
Lewis Hamilton gives a thumbs up in the media pen during the F1 Grand Prix of United States. Getty
Leclerc echoed these statements, the Monaco driver now in his seventh year with the Italian team and well aware of the added noise that follows the F1 giant.
“There are lots of speculations around me, but just in general around the team for whatever reason, I feel like there are too many people speaking things not coming from actual facts and it’s just a little bit annoying,” said Leclerc.
“It’s always been like that. And I think as a driver, but I think as a team, we’ve just got to focus on our things, which is what we are doing. But it’s just not great and not super nice to see all these things around the team all the time.”
Ferrari will be back on track in Mexico on Saturday morning AEDT.