Ferrari boss Vasseur leaves Spielberg for personal reasons, and hands over to D'Ambrosio for Austrian GP
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has left the Austrian Grand Prix to return home for personal reasons with deputy Jerome d'Ambrosio taking over for Sunday's race at Spielberg, the team said.
Ferrari introduced a heavily upgraded floor on its SF-25 at the Red Bull Ring in a bid to salvage their season which has been an up-and-down campaign so far.
While Friday's practice sessions did not bring a clear picture whether Ferrari achieved a real step with the new floor, the qualifying session saw Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton deliver the Scuderia's best qualifying result of the 2025 F1 season.
The Monegasque sat out the opening session as he handed over his SF-25 to F2 driver Dino Beganovic. The 27-year-old looked slightly off the pace in final practice, but he delivered when it really mattered by ending up second just behind Lando Norris.
His team-mate Lewis Hamilton has struggled in qualifying so far in 2025, but the seven-time F1 champion displayed eye-catching pace throughout the entire session. The Briton slightly underdelivered in Q2, but he was on the pace in the final qualifying segment to secure P4 on the grid.
Ferrari announced on Sunday morning that team biss Fred Vasseur has left the Austrian Grand Prix to return home for personal reasons with deputy Jerome d'Ambrosio taking over for Sunday's race at Spielberg.
A Ferrari statement said: “Fred will not be at the track today, because he has had to return home for personal reasons. Deputy Team Principal, Jerome d'Ambrosio will stand in for him.”
D'Ambrosio was born in Belgium in 1985 and was a professional racing driver up until 2020. His results include a win in GP2, three in Formula E and he also drove in 20 Formula 1 Grands Prix from 2011 to 2012.
At Mercedes, he worked alongside Team Principal Toto Wolff and ran the Stuttgart firm’s young driver programme. The Belgian joined Ferrari last October.
