Vasseur stresses: 'I would never want to deny Mekies this opportunity'

Frederic Vasseur has made it clear how he feels about the departure of Laurent Mekies, who will become team boss at AlphaTauri. Speaking to Formula1.com, Vasseur discusses his close friend's departure and what it means for Ferrari's future.

With his appointment as team boss, Mekies returns to the team where he once started his career in Formula 1, although it was then called Minardi. However, when Mekies will appear in Faenza is still somewhat unclear, as the Frenchman still has a contract with Ferrari for the rest of the season.

"First of all, I think it’s a mega opportunity for Laurent", Vasseur stressed. "I have a good relationship with him, and I won’t block Laurent, for sure. If you speak about the timeline, I think that AlphaTauri was probably a bit aggressive in the press release. We have a long-term contract with Laurent, and we’ll have to discuss the details. But we had a very open discussion on this because I know Laurent for 30 years, and I think that it’s very difficult to refuse this kind of proposal for him."

Mekies' departure not a big problem for Ferrari

Mekies' departure means that Ferrari loses two frontrunners in a short space of time. Head of Aerodynamics David Sanchez is also leaving the Italian team to join McLaren next season. However, Vasseur makes it clear that the departure of both men is not something that will bring Ferrari down.

"To lose two persons from 1,600, it’s not a drama," Vasseur emphasized. "You know that the power of the team is always more important, and the power of the group, than the individuals, and the group is there. We are now working step by step to build the organisation, that doesn't happen in one day."