Ferrari urged to avoid 'fiery' repeat as Fred Vasseur position questioned

Juan Pablo Montoya has urged Ferrari to avoid repeating its "biggest issue" of firing a senior figure should Fred Vasseur struggle this year.

Vasseur is entering his fourth season as Ferrari team principal and is coming off a poor 2025 campaign, which saw the Scuderia fail to claim a victory.

The Maranello-based outfit was the only team among the 'big four' not to secure a win, and it also finished comfortably adrift in fourth place in the constructors' standings.

It represented a disastrous end to the previous regulation cycle for Ferrari, which is looking to bounce back at the start of the new power unit regulations.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc showed promise in testing, with the SF-26 looking like a package to watch closely at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. However, should 2026 prove to be another poor year for Ferrari, it is likely that senior management will turn its attention to Vasseur.

There will be significant expectations on Vasseur to make genuine progress this season after the disappointment of 2025, with Montoya recognising that, if the Frenchman fails, Ferrari's history suggests a new team principal would be appointed.

However, the Colombian has urged Ferrari to allow Vasseur time to build the team — even if another difficult year is endured — rather than starting from scratch again by dismissing him.

Asked if this year is make-or-break for Vasseur, Montoya told Vision4Sport: "The question is if it doesn’t work, is it his fault?

"I think this is the biggest issue Ferrari has; every time something doesn’t work, you get rid of the top guy. You need to be able to build, and you need to take that fear from Ferrari and get rid of whoever has that mentality.

"They need to build instead of destroy. You either have good enough people to build the best car, or you don’t. If you don’t, you need to figure out how to hire the best people and see what it takes to hire the best people and build a good team and a good base.

"But you cannot go, ‘Oh, the car is shit, you’re out, we’ll bring someone else in.’ Because the next guy is going to come in, and people don’t like him, they’re going to leave. They have got to stop sacking people and moving people, and leave the politics at home.

"It is a race team. Look at where McLaren and Mercedes-Benz are. They are very solid. They win together, and they lose together, and everything that happens is together. You don’t see blame. But the Italians are so fiery and so media-driven that it’s like, ‘We need somebody’s head on a plate!’"