'Vasseur was already secretly visiting Ferrari for talks'

Frederic Vasseur has already secretly visited Ferrari and is said to have already held several talks. Several jobs are also at risk with the arrival of the new team boss.

Vasseur will not officially start his new job as Ferrari team boss until 9 January, but that has not stopped the Frenchman from already visiting the Maranello factory. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport before Christmas, Vasseur spent two days sampling atmosphere in the factory's sports department. He will enter the same office there from 9 January as Mattia Binotto between 2019 and 2022.

Vasseur is familiar with sporting director Laurent Mekies, and is said to have already held several talks with the man who saw it all go wrong at Ferrari in 2022. Vasseur does not appear to be bringing any new people to Ferrari at the moment, although the name of technical director Simone Resta (now active at Haas) has been mentioned.

The changes in Maranello will be gradual, as Vasseur did at Sauber. Ferrari is said to have seen in Vasseur the man to maximise everyone's performance, so Fred is taking a gradual approach to keep everyone motivated. According to the Italian medium, though, it is clear that strategic manager Inaki Rueda and several technical managers, who have been in place since 2016, will be under a magnifying glass after 2022.