BUDAPEST: Ferrari handed team principal Fred Vasseur a new contract on Thursday in a sign of “trust in Fred’s leadership” following speculation about his future, with the Italian team yet to win a Formula 1 race in 2025.
In an announcement ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari said the new deal was a “multiple-year contract,” without giving further details. Lewis Hamilton gave Vasseur his backing last month after reports in Italian media suggested his job could be in question.
Ferrari last won a race in October and neither Hamilton nor Charles Leclerc has consistently been able to challenge the leading McLaren drivers.
“Today we want to recognize what has been built and commit to what still needs to be achieved,” Ferrari chief executive Benedetto Vigna said in a statement.
“It reflects our trust in Fred’s leadership — a trust rooted in shared ambition, mutual expectations and clear responsibility. We move forward with determination and focus, united in our pursuit of the level of performance Ferrari has to aim for.”
Vasseur joined Ferrari as team principal at the start of 2023. He was Hamilton’s team boss in junior series in the mid-2000s and played a role in convincing the seven-time champion to leave Mercedes for Ferrari for 2025 in a move which shook up F1. Vasseur also previously worked with Renault and Sauber in F1.
Hamilton, who hasn’t finished on the podium in a Grand Prix race since joining the Italian team, has been holding meetings with senior executives to push for improvements and a voice in developing the team’s car for 2026.
Ferrari renews team principal Fred Vasseur’s contract despite a difficult F1 season
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Ferrari renews team principal Fred Vasseur’s contract despite a difficult F1 season
- Lewis Hamilton gave Vasseur his backing last month after reports in Italian media suggested his job could be in question
- Ferrari last won a race in October and neither Hamilton nor Charles Leclerc has consistently been able to challenge the leading McLaren drivers
Dortmund’s new CEO defends sponsorship deal with arms manufacturer Rheinmetall
- Cramer said “it’s maybe a part of life that we do not need to agree 100 percent to everything the club are doing”
- At the 2024 AGM, a majority of members present voted against further cooperation with Rheinmetall
BERLIN: German soccer club Borussia Dortmund’s new chief executive has defended their contentious sponsorship agreement with Rheinmetall, the country’s largest arms manufacturer.
Carsten Cramer, who took over from outgoing Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke last month, said Thursday he was 100 percent committed to the three-year deal announced by the club in May 2024, and that he was “convinced it was the right decision” despite many Dortmund fans making their opposition to it clear.
“I do accept the criticism,” Cramer said. “It’s maybe a part of life that we do not need to agree 100 percent to everything the club are doing. But in certain times it is necessary to take responsibility, and in these dangerous times where the safety and security of our country is not protected by diplomatic relationships and political relationships, I think it is a clear commitment of a club like Dortmund that we have to invest in defense.”
Rheinmetall last month announced record figures for the first nine months of 2025, with sales up 20 percent to 7.5 billion euros ($8.8 billion), while its backlog in orders reached 64 billion euros ($75 billion). It announced record sales of weapon systems, ammunition and protection systems driven by wars in Ukraine and elsewhere.
“We have to start and run a discussion in our country how to defend our country and Dortmund are always taking responsibility,” Cramer said. “We are always saying we are more than just a football club.”
Dortmund present Rheinmetall on their website as a “champion partner” and they display the company’s banner on advertising hoardings during games.
The agreement has caused friction among supporters to varying degrees with some Dortmund fans even going so far as to renounce their support. There were boos for Watzke at the club’s AGM last month, when he was appointed club president with 59 percent of the vote though he might have expected more. Watzke played a significant role in steering the club through a financial crisis in 2005.
At the 2024 AGM, a majority of members present voted against further cooperation with Rheinmetall.
That came after the team’s first game of the 2024-25 season was marked by fan protests against the sponsorship deal.
“Five years ago, I never expected that we would work together with a defense company. But now democracy, the system, the defense structure of our territories (is) under pressure, and I think we have to open the eyes of the people that we are not able to defend our country, our system, just by hoping that the Americans will care for us,” Cramer said.
“If a club like us are not inviting (people) to discuss something like this, who should do it?”
