Wolff slams critics: 'If I was not here, Vasseur would be team boss at Mercedes'

Ferrari had a strong qualifying session on Saturday, with Charles Leclerc in P2 and Lewis Hamilton in P4, however Vasseur had to go home a day earlier due to personal circumstances.

The Frenchman has been under pressure for weeks, after Italian media reported that the Ferrari team principal's position was at risk. Wolff was asked by GPblog about the criticism of his counterpart and the importance of having stability in a team.

He replied: "Yeah, it seems to be a bit of a revolving door with teams generally. I think Christian (Horner, ed.) and I are the only dinosaurs [team principals] left, with many of you in the room. And I think in Formula 1, you can't buy time. And you need to give senior leadership the time to get on top of things."

Wolff then pointed to Jean Todt, whose work didn't bear any titles for years. The Mercedes team principal also turned the focus inward to the German team. According to the Austrian, a team principal should be given room to do their job.

Wolff continued: "Fred is one of the best racing managers that I know. If I wasn't here, I would take Fred. So I respect him a lot. He's a great personality. He's a straightforward guy. He doesn't deal in politics and lies, and he knows what he's talking about."

"Because if he wins, he is Jesus Christ. And if you lose, you're a loser. That's how it is. And that's fantastic. That's the passion that is in there. You've got to embrace that. Maybe that's something he needs to learn. But the rest, he should be given the confidence running his team. They won’t get anybody better," Wolff concluded.