- Ralf Schumacher advises Vasseur that winning races will silence Ferrari exit rumours.
- Andrea Stella denies Ferrari links while reinforcing his leadership role at McLaren.
- Zak Brown labels Stella exit rumors as nonsense following Lambiase’s strategic recruitment.
As rumours around Andrea Stella’s move to Ferrari in 2028 surge, many believe that Fred Vasseur’s team principal seat is in danger. However, Michael Schumacher’s brother, Ralf, gave advice to Vasseur on how to eliminate these rumours and keep his position strong in the team.
He regards GP’s recruitment from Red Bull to McLaren as a way to lift a bit of the burden from Stella, who is currently juggling between race engineer and team principal responsibilities.
Stella, however, recently addressed his rumoured move to Ferrari, confirming that there’s no such thing. Ahead of joining McLaren, Stella had been a part of Ferrari since 2000. During his tenure, he served as a performance engineer at first for Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen.
Later, he was also the race engineer of Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. In 2014, he followed Alonso to McLaren, continuing their long-term collaboration and starting in the team initially as Head of Race Operations.
Ralf Schumacher suggests a way for Vasseur to put to rest Stella-Ferrari rumours
In a conversation on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Schumacher addressed the Stella-Ferrari rumours and what Vasseur could do to not lose his seat to the McLaren team principal.
He said, “As for Ferrari, they aren’t going anywhere. Fred Vasseur seems to have things under control now, and we know from the Michael Schumacher and Jean Todt era that building a winning cycle takes time.”
He highlighted that if Vasseur continues to win races and be a part of the championship, the talk about his replacement would eventually disappear. In addition, he also emphasised Stella’s strong position at McLaren currently and that hiring GP is a strategic move to help him manage things more effectively.
“When you’re at the front, in the thick of things, you’re constantly in the spotlight and keeping a close eye on everything. If you have overall responsibility but then also have to be involved in everything on the ground, then it is simply too much in modern Formula 1,” he explained.
Zak Brown rules out Stella’s rumoured move to Ferrari
Apart from Stella, Brown also recently stepped in to shut down the rumours that Stella isn’t going anywhere from McLaren, following the news of the recruitment of Gianpiero Lambiase for 2028. He called the rumours connecting Stella to Ferrari “total nonsense.”
He added, “You know, a team or two stirring it to you know a great part of our sport is everyone likes to maybe destabilise teams, but that doesn’t work here.” He noted that Stella is committed to McLaren, and so is the team.
Moreover, he mentioned that GP’s arrival will not prompt Stella’s exit; they will be working together. He settled the debate that Stella hired GP to be a support to him, and not to replace him.
