Fred Vasseur Will Not Be on Track in Monaco Due to Health Reasons

A striking development took place in the F1 paddock in Monaco on Saturday morning. Ferrari announced through its official social media channels in a short statement that Team Principal Fred Vasseur would not be on track today. In the Maranello-based team's statement, the following expressions were included: "Fred Vasseur will not be present at the circuit today. Following some medical checks, Fred will remain under observation at a local medical facility. No further medical information will be provided. We wish Fred a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back at the track soon."

The fact that the statement did not provide details led to questions. Vasseur had followed the FP1 and FP2 sessions from the paddock on Friday; both these sessions had passed extraordinarily well for Ferrari. In FP1, Charles Leclerc settled at the top with his 1:13.978 lap; in FP2, Lewis Hamilton beat his teammate by 0.111 seconds. Ferrari finished 1-2 in both sessions. While this performance led to talk that the SF-26 was the biggest favourite for Sunday's race, Vasseur's sudden absence was a surprise in the paddock.

Deputy Team Principal Jerome D'Ambrosio will be on duty in Vasseur's place. The 39-year-old Belgian former racer has quickly risen in the Ferrari hierarchy in recent months and is seen as Vasseur's direct successor. D'Ambrosio will manage trackside decisions during the FP3 session and Saturday evening's qualifying sessions, coordinating engineering decisions with Leclerc and Hamilton. On Sunday race day, what Vasseur's situation will be is still uncertain; according to PlanetF1's news, the team's official stance is "the situation on race day will depend on developments".

Vasseur took over the Ferrari Team Principal role from Mattia Binotto at the start of the 2023 season. The Frenchman, who has been at the head of the team's restructuring process since that date, was also a key figure in Hamilton's transfer from Mercedes to Ferrari in recent years. After the 2025 season was weak, Vasseur's future was frequently brought to the agenda in the press last year, but the management stood behind him. Throughout the 2026 season, Mercedes has won all 5 races and Ferrari was coming to Monaco without a trophy — this weekend was seen as a critical chance for both the team and Vasseur to gain momentum.

The fact that Ferrari deliberately did not share details about the health situation caused the motor sports press to take a cautious stance. Authorities such as Crash.net, GPblog, Autosport and PlanetF1 added the note that "what kind of medical procedure Vasseur underwent is not known at the moment". Still, all news emphasised that the statement was in a tone of "not a routine check" and wrote that the team principal's situation was being closely followed. No statement has yet come from Vasseur's family and close circle. In the paddock, support messages are awaited from Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, McLaren's Andrea Stella and the Red Bull side.

On Saturday in Monaco, FP3 will start at 13:30, and qualifying at 17:00. The race will start on Sunday at 15:00 local time. The fact that Charles Leclerc also announced his contract extension decision with Ferrari towards the end of Friday showed that this weekend was already emotionally loaded for Ferrari — Vasseur's absence added an unexpected tension to this picture. The team chose the way to politely turn down all questions in the paddock until Vasseur's situation is clarified. After official announcements on Monday morning, the situation will emerge more clearly.

Image: f1i.autojournal.fr