Vasseur is responding to ongoing speculation about Leclerc’s growing frustration with Ferrari, with suggestions he may look elsewhere at the end of his current contract.

The Frenchman stressed that successful team projects are always built on the contributions of drivers, citing examples including the Michael Schumacher era at Maranello and insisting that Leclerc is fully immersed in the current rebuilding programme. middle.

“He’s clearly part of the project, which means he’s not a bystander of the project,” Vasseur said. “He was involved in the development of the team, he was part of the development because he was developing himself.

“He’s a performance contributor on and off the track. As long as he can play that role, we’ll be on a good path.

“In every team you always build the team around the driver, it’s true. If you look back 20 years or more, all the successful headlines in F1 take time. But it’s always built around someone. The team, one driver Mercedes’ Lewis (Hamilton) is like that.

“It was the same with Michael at Ferrari, it was with (Fernando) Alonso at Renault, it was everywhere. You can find tons of examples.

“For sure, Charles is a big pillar of performance and he has to play a role inside the car, outside the car, to be a performance contributor. He’s fully behind that part of the job. I really believe that’s his personal commitment as well.”

Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari team principal and general manager

Photography: Simon Galloway/ motorsport pictures

Vasseur emphasized that he wants his drivers to be frustrated if things aren’t going well, because it’s a sign they’re hungry for more.

“It’s good to be depressed,” he said. “I would be very upset if they were happy with how things are going. But he was in the first row twice. We had a DNF the first time and he was penalized the second time.

“Melbourne wasn’t the best weekend of his life and for sure after three races if he wasn’t getting frustrated with the situation it was going to be a drama and he had to stop.

“I love it. Honestly, we had discussions and for me the frustration can be positive. We need to understand what we did right and what we did wrong. I think we had discussions together.

“That’s how we can improve. But you can’t blame Charles or feel that Charles is disappointed.”

Asked whether he had started talking to Leclerc about a long-term commitment, he said: “We’ll do it during the season. He’s over a year into our contract now and we’ll have time to discuss it, I don’t think so at all. Not afraid. And I don’t think now is the right time.”

Sainz penalty

Vasseur also said the team’s right to a review request for Carlos Sainz’s penalty at the Australian Grand Prix was a show of support for the Spanish driver.

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23

Photography: Mark Sutton/ motorsport pictures

The steward considers that the documents submitted by Ferrari do not meet the required standard for providing new evidence, so the penalty remains.

“The Melbourne story, I think every event is different, it’s hard to say okay, this is the right decision,” Vasseur said.

“I think the frustration comes from the situation, but when you know you’re going to restart on a lap behind the safety car, with no hearing, you give five seconds, so it’s like a disqualification. You I knew it was a disqualification.

“And the frustration can also come from other incidents that we’ve had in the same corner as Gasly/Ocon or Sergeant/De Vries and treated a bit differently.

“I don’t want to make any comments, but I think it’s important for us to support Carlos, go to the FIA, talk to them, see what they think about it.

“The incident is behind us now. We have to look forward and focus on Baku.”

Vasseur admits the whole affair has been difficult for Sainz.

“I think it’s a tough game for Carlos because if you look at it, he played really well.

“His pit stop before the red flag was a little bit unlucky, he had to make an extra pit stop. Then he came back, he passed five or six cars and he was chasing – I think it was Alonso/Lewis.

“The tempo was there, it was a bit harsh to be penalized on the last lap, very harsh psychologically.”