Vasseur set to resume duties at Silverstone amid speculation

Frederic Vasseur is expected to be back on Ferrari’s pit wall this weekend at Silverstone, following his sudden absence from the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari team principal missed Sunday's race at the Red Bull Ring due to "personal reasons", with no further details shared publicly. However, respected Italian journalist Leo Turrini offered well wishes to the 57-year-old and expressed confidence in his return.

“We’ll see him on the pit wall at Silverstone,” Turrini wrote in his Quotidiano column.

Vasseur’s absence came amid increasing speculation about his long-term position at Ferrari.

Some believe the Scuderia could eventually elevate Antonello Coletta, who currently leads the brand’s highly successful WEC program, to the top Formula 1 role for 2026 or beyond.

In the meantime, former F1 driver and current Ferrari deputy team principal Jerome d’Ambrosio stepped in to oversee operations in Austria.

D’Ambrosio, who joined from Mercedes last year under Vasseur’s guidance, acknowledged the challenge of filling in.

“It’s never the same when Fred isn’t here,” the 39-year-old Belgian told RTBF. “We call each other 20 times a day. I’m updated on everything. F1 is a team sport, and ours is super strong, which makes things easier.”

Ferrari currently sits second in the constructors’ standings, behind dominant McLaren. However, unlike Red Bull, Mercedes, and McLaren, Ferrari has yet to win a race in 2025 with Charles Leclerc and new signing Lewis Hamilton.

“We have to take one weekend at a time,” d’Ambrosio said. “The gap to McLaren was significant (in Austria), but we’ve seen this season how quickly things can swing.

“Mercedes dominated in Canada and are now struggling. We have to bring performance where we can and see where it leads by season’s end.”

While Ferrari is still pushing for results in 2025, like most top teams, development is gradually shifting toward the major regulation changes coming in 2026.

D’Ambrosio declined to confirm rumours of an imminent rear suspension upgrade.

“I obviously won’t reveal our plans for the next six months,” he said. “But we are at a stage where we have to think about the compromise between 2025 and 2026. 2026 will bring major changes, but there’s still performance to be found in 2025 and we want to keep improving.”