F1 News: Ferrari 'very satisfied' even without Newey

(GMM) Frederic Vasseur says he will be making no comment about speculation linking Ferrari with Adrian Newey’s next move in Formula 1.

Since deciding to leave Red Bull amid the team’s current management turmoil, Newey has been linked with Ferrari, Aston Martin, McLaren, Williams and Mercedes.

However, whilst earlier reports indicated that a Ferrari deal was all but done, the latest rumors suggest the Maranello based team had subsequently fallen out of the running to secure F1’s most sought-after technical talent.

When asked about Newey, and specifically whether talks have taken place and if Ferrari is simply waiting for the 65-year-old’s answer, team boss Vasseur told Sky Italia: “No.

“I speak to everyone in the paddock when we meet because we are well-educated,” the Frenchman laughed. “But on this point I won’t make any more comments because any answer could be interpreted wrong, and the most important thing is the stability of the team.

“As I’ve said before, we are having a good season, we are going in the right direction, and the most important thing to me is the stability of the group rather than that of the individual.

“And I am very satisfied with the current situation,” Vasseur insists.

Indeed, off the back of Charles Leclerc’s win from pole at Monaco, and Red Bull’s sudden performance decline, even the 2024 world championship might now be up for grabs.

The key will be car upgrades, and Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko admits that 2-3 million euros of damage to Sergio Perez’s car at Monaco could hurt the team.

“We have lost 3 million, to put it simply,” said the F1 team’s Austrian consultant. “In the worst case, this means spending less time updating the car.

“If Ferrari and McLaren become even more competitive, then we will obviously find ourselves in a difficult situation,” Marko added.

And at Ferrari, Vasseur says more upgrades are already in the pipeline.

“We just brought our latest package,” he said, “so it’s too early to talk about future updates. But we are definitely working on them and will bring them as soon as possible.

“I don’t know if it will be before or after Silverstone, but it will be soon.”