Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur will miss Monaco Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday for medical reasons, leaving the team without its boss on one of the most important days of the weekend. Ferrari said Vasseur was not at the circuit and would remain under observation at a local medical facility after some medical checks.
The timing matters because Ferrari arrived in Monaco with momentum. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished first and second in both practice sessions on Friday, giving the team one of its strongest days of the season. At Monaco, where track position is everything and a clean lap can decide the grid, the absence of the man directing the operation is a real blow.
Vasseur had already pointed to how hard the circuit makes life for everyone. On Friday, he said it was difficult to put a lap together for everybody and that with 10% more cars on the grid this year it was more than 10% more difficult. He also said tyres were becoming predominant again in performance, and that with so many cars on track it would be key on Saturday to do a proper out-lap and then deliver a clean lap.
Ferrari gave no detail on what led to the medical checks and said no further medical information would be provided. The team said it looked forward to seeing him back at the track soon, but for qualifying the responsibility shifts elsewhere at a venue where the margins are already razor thin.
The absence also lands at a useful moment for Ferrari, which has not won a grand prix since October 2024 and appears set for its most competitive weekend of the season so far. Vasseur, who replaced Mattia Binotto as team principal in January 2023, has spent much of the year trying to steady a team still searching for a breakthrough. Monaco has offered Ferrari strong pace on Friday; what remains is whether that speed can be turned into a result without him on the pit wall.
