Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur hospitalized in Monaco for assessments

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur will not be present Saturday in Monte Carlo for official qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. The 58-year-old Prancing Horse boss, the Maranello-based team announces, is currently hospitalized at a local health facility where he will remain under observation following some medical examinations.

Vasseur will not be present at the Monaco circuit and will therefore not follow the team from the wall on Saturday. This is the statement from Ferrari: “Fred Vasseur will not be present at the circuit today. Following some medical examinations, Fred will remain under observation at a local health facility. No further medical information will be provided. We wish Fred a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him on the track soon.”

In Friday’s free practice session, the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc dominated both sessions at the Principality’s circuit, confirming how the SF-26 is particularly comfortable between Monaco’s guardrails. Hamilton ended the second session with the fastest time of 1’13″026, followed by teammate Leclerc at just 111 thousandths, with Max Verstappen in Red Bull third more than a tenth and a half off the top.

Vasseur on Friday had commented on Charles Leclerc’s renewal in this way, “I believe in Charles and I’m convinced that he is the right horse. But you always have to ask the right questions, both him and us, when renewing a contract of this kind. It is never a foregone conclusion, because we are talking about both a career choice, but also a long-term choice. We associate drivers with the development of the next year’s cars, so we can’t afford to change drivers every year. And then also for him it’s a long-term marriage, in the sense that it’s a bet on Ferrari.”