Coletta turns down Elkann as Vasseur is described as 'tired and worn out' at Ferrari

The report changes the succession picture at Maranello amid speculation that Vasseur will be removed from his role at the end of the season, which Ferrari have denied. Coletta, who runs Ferrari's endurance programme, had been named as the leading in-house candidate to take over from Vasseur.

According to Corriere della Sera, Elkann and Vigna have been trying for some time to persuade Coletta, but the endurance chief knows he has no experience of running an F1 operation.

The Italian paper says Coletta keeps refusing because he does not feel he has the right experience for the role. He has also seen Ferrari 'burn out careers one after one another' and is wary of suffering the same fate.

Coletta has been at Ferrari since the late 1990s and has led its endurance racing programme since 2014. Between 2023 and 2025 he oversaw three straight Le Mans 24 Hours victories. Ferrari has gone through six different F1 team bosses since he joined the company.

GPblog's own paddock sources named Coletta as the in-house favourite and it is also noteworthy that Corriere's account does not say Ferrari has stopped wanting him. It says he is the one saying no. Ferrari has also not confirmed the report.

The most striking claim is about Vasseur himself. Corriere writes that his fatigue could lead him to make the decision before his employers do.

The paper also says Vasseur is being criticised internally over 'private interests', his perceived closeness to Charles Leclerc and what some see as a lack of responsibility in his public comments.

Even so, Corriere argues that Ferrari has no obvious replacement: "Vasseur isn't winning, he's not convincing, and he doesn't have a competent racing partner at the top."

With Coletta reluctant, Italian reports name deputy team principal Jerome D'Ambrosio as a possible interim solution if Ferrari makes a change before the season ends.

For now, Vasseur is still at Ferrari and remains under contract with the team. Ferrari's public position is that it is sticking with him. Corriere's version is that the preferred successor has declined and the current boss may be running out of energy.