Frederic Vasseur snapped back at criticism from Italian media over Ferrari’s struggles and Martin Brundle has backed him along with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc

Frederic Vasseur has faces some questions about his Ferrari future(Image: Getty Images)

A legendary former Ferrari chief has lambasted the famous Formula 1 team’s weak leadership amid speculation over boss Frederic Vasseur’s future. But Martin Brundle agrees with both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc that the Frenchman remains the right man to lead Ferrari.

“It would be nuts to change Fred Vasseur,” said Brundle. “Is he the problem? I don’t think he’s the problem at the moment. The car’s not fast enough. Now, that’s a collaboration between everybody in the team.

“Who would you replace them with? And then a new crew comes in, and everybody keeps their head down, start working in silos, waiting to see where they stand with the new boss. That’s the last thing Ferrari need to do at the moment.

Fred’s got a lot of experience. I think he can handle the pressure. I mean, it’s only a year ago I did an interview with him here [in Montreal], and everybody was celebrating what amazing job he’d done turning Ferrari around – They’d just won Monaco.

“[It] didn’t go so well immediately after that, but you know what? This is not a Premier League club where you just keep changing the managers until, eventually, you hopefully find one. You can’t do that, and it would be nuts.”

Ferrari remain the most successful squad in F1 history but haven’t won the title since 2008. They won’t end that barren run this year with McLaren dominating the grid. Some Italian media this week claimed Ferrari are lining up a replacement for Vasseur and attacked other senior members of the team.

The Frenchman brushed off the criticism directed his way but angrily bit back at those who had criticised his colleagues. He said: “To be the team principal, I knew when I took the position that you are exposed. This is quite easy to manage.

“It’s more for the people of the team. They are working very hard. To decide one day, ‘This one will be replaced, this one is useless’. Honestly, it’s very harsh. These journalists need to consider these people have family. This is completely disrespectful.”

Hamilton and Leclerc have both publicly backed the Frenchman who has also faced criticism from Luca di Montezemolo, who was Ferrari president the last time they won the title. The Italian said: “I was with Ferrari for 23 years… Today I see a team without real leadership, without spirit and without passion.”

He also criticised the decision to sign Hamilton as a 40-year-old, adding: “The decision to hire Lewis Hamilton was made for marketing reasons. I have nothing against Hamilton. I respect him and his record, but I think Ferrari should hire a driver because they are competitive and strong.”