Fred Vasseur has dismissed suggestions of growing unrest inside Ferrari and further key people are set to leave.
The Scuderia’s seemingly troubled start to the new F1 season has sparked rumours of discontent.
Head of vehicle concept David Sanchez recently announced his departure, whilst there is speculation another pivotal figure in sporting director Laurent Mekies is considering his options.
Vasseur, who has only been in charge for two months and is already fighting fires inside the team, has quelled talk surrounding the possible departure of Mekies.
“To have people who are unhappy is two different things,” said Vasseur. “It’s quite noble to be unhappy when you don’t get the results that you are expecting. I’m unhappy now.
“The most important is to work as a group, to work as a team, to try to get the best out of this and to do improvement.
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“But leaving the company is another story.
“If you want to speak about Laurent, I don’t know what’s happened in the past with Laurent, but I’ve known Laurent for 25 years, something like this, from when he was at school.
“I trust him, we have a very good collaboration together and he will be one of the pillars of the future of the company.”
Ferrari on solid ground
With regard to Sanchez and the possibility of other senior personnel leaving, Vasseur concedes that while there is a staff merry-go-round that exists inside F1, he is confident of keeping other key figures in place.
“Honestly, it’s the life of the team, that we recruit a lot each year and we have a turnover each year,” insisted Vasseur.
“If you want to speak about key people [leaving], I don’t think so.
“But for sure we will have people leaving the team and some people joining the team. It’s like this in every single team in F1.
“We are a solid group, building up a team for the future. So no, I don’t think that key people will leave the team.”
Ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, driver Carlos Sainz went so far as to suggest there was an ongoing quest to destabilise the team.
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