Following the rumours over the weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard that Scuderia Ferrari are looking into the possibility of replacing Kimi Räikkönen with Charles Leclerc, Frederic Vasseur says he is not worried about losing the highly rated Monegasque driver to the Maranello-based team.
Leclerc has started his Alfa Romeo Formula 1 Team career superbly with three top ten finishes in the opening seven races, including a sixth place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and after four consecutive appearances in the second phase of Qualifying made his first Q3 appearance on Saturday in Qualifying for the French Grand Prix.
Vasseur, the team principal of the Hinwil-based outfit, acknowledges that Leclerc is an integral part of Sauber and their on-track improvement in 2018 after two lacklustre seasons fighting at the back of the field, but insists there are more important things to focus on rather than the potential departure of a driver.
“It’s a problem for the rich at the end of the day,” said Vasseur to Motorsport.com. “It’s much better to have this feeling that you could lose something than you would like to have something. It’s a great feeling.
“We know we are improving, in the company, in every single area of the company, every single department. Everybody is pushing like hell, and Charles is part of the system, and one of the pillars.
“My job as team principal of Sauber is to stay focussed on the current situation. I don’t want to think too much about the future.
“We have a lot of work to do with the team, with the drivers, Charles and Marcus [Ericsson] also, and the most important thing is to stay focussed, and not start to think too much.”
