Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz has delivered his verdict on “the piranha club” – the revolving door of F1 team principals.
Fred Vasseur at Ferrari
“They’ve got a good replacement for Mattia Binotto,” Kravitz said to Sky. “He’s a winner in the lower Formula, not yet in F1, but with his own team in F2 and F3, Vassuer has won races and championships.
“He speaks Italian, he’s been with Alfa Romeo/Sauber of course, a Swiss team with Italian backing, so he speaks the language.
“And crucially he knows and has a good working relationship with Ferrari’s main championship challenger and star, Charles Leclerc.
“They worked together at Sauber before, so I think it’s a good solution, a good appointment for Ferrari with Vasseur coming in for Binotto.
“The only thing that they have left really is to hope that Frederic Vasseur is left to get on with it.
“That’s the big question, as to whether the team boss merry-go-round that we have seen at Ferrari in recent years will continue.
“After all, Vasseur is the fourth Ferrari team boss since Stefano Domenicali’s departure in 2014, and that is quite a lot.
“Charles Leclerc has talked today about how he has a good relationship with Vasseur, and I don’t think he’s throwing any doubt over his previous relationship with Binotto, but to have someone with whom he’s worked and raced together before can only be a good thing.”
Andreas Seidl to Sauber
“The Sauber team’s transition from Alfa Romeo to Audi definitely impacted Andreas Seidl’s decision to take the job,” Kravitz said.
“That’s not to say he wouldn’t have been interested in joining Alfa Romeo, but Audi is something that’s going to be a proper works entry, rather than just a sponsor in F1.
“What it does mean is that Seidl will have a good run-up to be able to get the Sauber team in fighting shape in order to become Audi full-time in 2026, so that makes sense as well.”
Andrea Stella at McLaren
“This is the big unknown,” Kravitz said.
“There are plenty of people questioning this, saying, ‘hang on, this is not a dyed in the wool McLaren person, this is not someone who if you cut them, they’d bleed McLaren and have been part of the Woking team for all of their working life. What’s going on?’
“But he’s highly regarded within McLaren, he’s been doing increasingly more executive roles over the years, he’s well respected within the paddock.
“They think it’s going to work.
“Eddie Jordan used to describe the team bosses in F1 as the ‘piranha club’, well, welcome to the piranha club Andrea Stella and good luck, because I think you’re going to need it.”
Williams’ options
“They have three avenues for recruitment,” Kravitz said.
“It’s always good for company morale to promote from within, so I think there are some good candidates already at Williams who we might not have heard of.
“Then there’s poaching from other F1 teams, that’s something Williams have said they are looking at.
“Then there’s poaching from other championships – there are team bosses in the World Endurance Championship, in Formula E and in Formula 2, who are all good candidates for that Williams team boss position.”
Keyword: Ted Kravitz’s verdict on Fred Vasseur at Ferrari, Andreas Seidl at Sauber, Andrea Stella at McLaren, and Williams’ options