Ferrari team boss Frédéric Vasseur will not be present for the remainder of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, his team announced on Sunday. The Frenchman is flying back home for ‘personal reasons’, thus missing the race at the Red Bull Ring. Vasseur will be replaced by Belgian Jérôme d’Ambrosio.
This is the first time since his appointment in 2023 that Frédéric Vasseur has missed a race. According to an official spokesperson for the team, the Frenchman is “not at the circuit today. He has to go back home for personal reasons.” He is being replaced by deputy team boss and head of the Ferrari Driver Academy Jérôme d’Ambrosio. D’Ambrosio, who hails from Etterbeek, raced under the Belgian flag in Formula 1 between 2011 and 2012, and has been working for Scuderia since last October.
Timing
Vasseur’s absence comes at an inconvenient time for Ferrari. The team experienced its best qualifying session of the season on Saturday in Spielberg. Charles Leclerc even managed to secure a spot on the front row, next to pole-sitter Lando Norris, while Lewis Hamilton will start the race in fourth place. Meanwhile, Vasseur has been under fire at Ferrari for some time, following the team’s poor start to the season, and according to various Italian media, he has until the British Grand Prix to turn things around.
Due to Frédéric Vasseur’s absence, deputy team boss Jérôme d’Ambrosio will be at the helm of Ferrari on Sunday in Austria.
