BREAKING NEWS: Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur signs contract extension

While the current contract was set to expire at the end of this season, Ferrari was nonetheless able to get an extension done with team principal Fred Vasseur to keep the Frenchman with the Scuderia for at least the next couple of seasons. 

(Image Credit to Kym IIIman/Getty Images)

Even when considering the struggles that have defined the Scuderia’s 2025 season, Ferrari were still nonetheless able to find a positive early Thursday morning, signing team principal Fred Vasseur to a multi-year extension. The move also ended any lingering rumour about the security of the Frenchman’s job, especially with Christian Horner on the job market. 

With new regulations set to be implemented ahead of the 2026 Formula One season, Ferrari’s decision to extend Vasseur grants the team some form of stability in advance of the significant changes coming over the winter. And with both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton all but locked into their seats with the team, it seems that Ferrari is also going to have stability in terms of their lineup, with other teams like Red Bull and Alpine potentially facing questions about their driver duo ahead of the regulation reset.

With the reasons for optimism stated above, it is important to note that I’m not giving tons of praise to the Scuderia; the strategic gaffes and struggles have still continued into the Fred Vasseur era of the team. An unnecessary pitstop in Australia that threw any hope of a podium away and a bad strategic call at Silverstone that gave Nico Hulkenberg his first-career podium represent only two of the missed opportunities for Ferrari. 

When you consider that and consider the many performance-related struggles the team has endured for much of the season, you have Ferrari’s season in a nutshell: repeated missed opportunities that have condemned the Scuderia to a 268-point deficit to McLaren just past the season’s midway point. 

Even then, one cannot deny the impact that Fred Vasseur has had on Ferrari since arriving in 2023. After a 2022 season that saw the Scuderia choke away leads in both championships (don’t worry Charles Leclerc fans, I won’t get started about that blown 46-point lead), Fred Vasseur turned the Scuderia into consistent podium contenders in 2023 as a result of an approach that prioritised long-term gain over short-term pain. That approach made Ferrari into race winners once again in 2024, ultimately falling an overtake short of the Constructors’ title. While Ferrari hasn’t lived up to the standard set in 2024, it’s clear that Fred Vasseur has reset the trajectory of this team and has generally left the disastrous ways of Mattia Binotto behind. 

Now the question becomes whether Fred Vasseur can continue to ensure strategic stability into the new era of regulations and put Ferrari in a position to once again fight for the world championship. 

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Article written by Noah Guttman