Ferrari CEO responds to Christian Horner rumours with Vasseur declaration

Vigna appeared in the paddock after a turbulent week of speculation about the team principal's future. He insisted the trip had been planned well before then.

"I had already planned to come to Sepang," Vigna told Sky Italia. He spoke while the field waited for the rain-delayed race to get under way.

Vigna's reassurance followed an unusual move earlier in the week. Ferrari's chief communications officer, Maria Conti, held a hastily arranged virtual news conference on Tuesday. There, she said the team had "full confidence" in Vasseur and in his team.

Ferrari said chairman John Elkann and Vigna were aligned in that backing. The statement came after Christian Horner told The Times that Ferrari was the "dream job".

Vasseur himself called the statement necessary. "I think the statement was mandatory to do something, or it would have been the same this weekend," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. On Saturday he also urged the team to stay united.

In his Sky interview, Vigna also responded to the rumours around Vasseur. He told Italian viewers that reality is what counts. "Reality is first, and it is what counts for us and should count for everyone, but that's fine. The important thing is learning to handle these situations."

Earlier in the weekend, Vigna told Motorsport.com Italia that he and Vasseur were having dinner together when he read the rumours, "The trust in Fred is there and has always been there," he added.

Within hours, the race tested that talk of unity. Ferrari started both cars on slicks, Red Bull read the conditions better, and the Scuderia had to fight back to finish third with Lewis Hamilton and fourth with Charles Leclerc. The race created another flashpoint when Leclerc questioned Ferrari's decision-making compared with Red Bull's.

Vasseur framed the call as a collective one. "We make these decisions together. We simply lacked information," he said. He also pointed to how the afternoon developed after the start: "Nevertheless, it went well in the end, the strategy was good, the pace was strong, and the drivers managed the tyres well."

Officially, nothing has changed. Ferrari's leadership still says Vasseur has its backing. But the CEO came to Sepang to show calm and ended up watching the kind of strategy call that has fuelled the speculation.