Toto Wolff sends Ferrari stern warning: 'If he wins he is Jesus Christ'

Toto Wolff has insisted Ferrari will not be able to find a better team principal than Fred Vasseur, whilst imploring the media to "leave him the space" to turn things around.

The Frenchman has been under considerable pressure in recent weeks amid Ferrari's disappointing start to the F1 season.

Even though the Maranello-based squad sits second to McLaren in the constructors' standings, it is 207 points adrift, a far cry from last year when it ran the Woking outfit close to a first title since 2008.

Expectations of championship glory have led Ferrari to quickly change team principals in the past decade when success has not been quickly forthcoming, and with Vasseur having assumed the mantle at Ferrari for the 2023 campaign, the voices of dissent in Italy are only growing louder.

Wolff highlighted how Jean Todt, who was at the helm during the Michael Schumacher era, was afforded time to right the ship over much of the 1990s.

The Mercedes boss underlined how rare it is for team principals to last in the position, playfully calling himself and Christian Horner "dinosaurs" and comparing Ferrari's current plight to his own situation.

"It seems to be a bit of a revolving door with teams in general," the Austrian told media, including RacingNews365.

"I think Christian [Horner] and I are the only dinosaurs left, with many of you here in the room.

"In Formula 1, you can't buy time, and you need to give the senior leadership the time to get on top of things.

"Today, we talked about Jean Todt, [who], if I'm not wrong, joined the team [Ferrari] in 1993, they won the first [drivers'] championship in 2000 - eight years [later].

"That's how it goes, and it comes in cycles. Look at us [Mercedes]. I'm not enjoying being in a phase that is the third year in a row that we are not fighting for a championship.

"We're not useless, we have really good weekends. We're winning races. It's respectable at times. And when it's not good, nobody's questioning, in a way, whether the top guy is doing a good job or not."

'They won't get anybody better'

The 53-year-old staunchly defended Vasseur's record, arguing he would take him at Mercedes if he were not already in the role.

Wolff was adamant Ferrari "won't get anyone better" than the 56-year-old and pointed out how he would be revered like "Jesus Christ" in Italy if he can return to Scuderia to its former glory.

"Leave him [Vasseur] the space," he added. "Let him do. Allow him to structure an organisation that isn't going to grip from day one. Loic [Serra, chassis technical director] has been there six months or seven months. They need to just let them do.

"Fred is one of the best racing managers that I know. If I weren't here, I would take Fred. So, I respect him a lot; he's a great personality, he's a straightforward guy, he doesn't deal in politics and lies, and he knows what he's talking about.

"He just needs to be given the trust to run this. He's perfectly aware that in Italy, it's like managing the football national team, and you're gonna have the scrutiny from the media, maybe that's something [for which] you need to grow a little bit of a thick skin, because if he wins, he is Jesus Christ, and if you lose, you're a loser.

"That's how Italy is, and that's fantastic. That's the passion that is in there, and you've got to embrace that, and maybe have something he needs to learn.

"But the rest, he should be given the confidence in running this team. They won't get anybody better."