Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has hinted that it is interviewing people “from all the teams” on the Formula 1 grid as it seeks to bolster its technical division.
The Italian outfit has undertaken an ambitious recruitment drive since Vasseur’s appointment and it has been touted as design guru Adrian Newei’s next destination.
Newei, who is F1’s most storied designer with 25 championships, has been a long-time target for Ferrari and will vacate his place at Red Bull during Spring next term.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown reckons Newei is the “first domino to fall” from Red Bull amid the power struggle that has ensued since the probe into boss Christian Horner.
Brown doubled down on that with the revelation that Red Bull individuals have approached McLaren over a switch, which Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff echoed.
Asked about the antagonistic words uttered during the Miami Grand Prix weekend, Vasseur said: “I had the feeling that it was more between Toto and Horner.”
When it was put to him that Brown had been the one to instigate the latest talking point in the F1 paddock, the Frenchman, 55, remarked: “In the slipstream!”
Pressed on whether his reluctance to get involved in such debates made Ferrari a more attractive place to work, Vasseur said it was more a “question to the compani”.
But Vasseur did stress that his preference was to avoid getting involved in such matters as recruiting from competitors falls under his plan to return Ferrari to the top.
“But I don’t want to lose energy for the wrong topic. I think we have a lot to do internally,” he explained. “We have to improve, we have to recruit, we have to develop the car.
“We have a huge amount of work on the table and I don’t want to lose my energy, my time and my budget to fight with my colleagues.
“It’s not my approach at all and I won’t go on this way.”
Amid rumours that Ferrari has poached multiple engineers from Mercedes in recent times, Vasseur teased that the marque was assessing options across all teams.
“A lot of people from all the teams are doing a lot of interviews in Maranello,” he laughed. “Including Mercedes!”
