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Frédéric Vasseur

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Frédéric Vasseur
Vasseur in 2024
Born (1968-05-28) 28 May 1968 (age 56)
Alma materESTACA
Occupations
  • Motorsport executive
  • businessman
  • engineer
Employers
TitleTeam Principal
Spouse
Marie Laure
(m. 1999)
Children4

Frédéric Vasseur (born 28 May 1968) is a French motorsport executive, businessman and engineer. Since 2023, Vasseur has served as team principal of Ferrari in Formula One; he previously served as team prinicipal of Renault, Sauber and Alfa Romeo.

Born and raised in Paris, Vasseur studied aeronautical engineering at ESTACA. He founded ASM in 1996, winning several national and continental Formula Three championships. In 2004, Vasseur partnered with Nicolas Todt to co-found ART Grand Prix, winning the GP2 Series back-to-back with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Until 2017—under the leadership of Vasseur—ART won four GP2 teams' championships, amongst five consecutive titles in the Formula 3 Euro Series from 2005 to 2009. Vasseur joined Renault in 2016 as their first team principal upon their return to Formula One, resigning at the end of the season and joining Sauber for 2017. After six seasons at Sauber—now known as Alfa Romeo—Vasseur moved to Ferrari in 2023, leading the team to victory at six Grands Prix, as of the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Outside of team management, Vasseur founded Spark Racing Technology in 2013, becoming the official chassis constructor for Formula E in its inaugural season, and since producing the SRT_01E (2014), SRT05e (2018), Gen3 (2022) and Gen3 Evo (2024). Spark also hold the license for Extreme E, producing the Odyssey 21, which has been in use since 2021.

Early and personal life

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Frédéric Vasseur was born on 28 May 1968 in Draveil, Île-de-France, France.[1] He married his wife Marie Laure on 31 July 1999 and together they have 4 children.[2]

Career

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Education and junior Formula series (1996–2015)

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Vasseur graduated from ESTACA where he studied aeronautics and engineering. He founded the ASM team in 1996 which, in partnership with Renault, won the French Formula 3 championship with David Saelens in 1998, and the Formula 3 Euroseries championships in partnership with Mercedes-Benz with Jamie Green, Lewis Hamilton, Paul di Resta and Romain Grosjean, from 2004 to 2007.

ART Grand Prix co-founders Nicolas Todt and Vasseur in 2009.

In 2004, he joined Nicolas Todt to form the ART Grand Prix team that won the GP2 Series championship with Nico Rosberg in 2005 and Lewis Hamilton in 2006.

At the end of 2013, he obtained the contract from the FIA to construct the 40 chassis for the inaugural Formula E series for his newly formed venture Spark Racing Technology; the company has continued to keep this contract.[3][4][5]

Formula One (2016–present)

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Renault Sport F1 Team (2016)

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Vasseur joined Renault Sport as team principal of the newly formed Renault Sport Formula One Team during the 2016 Formula One season. He resigned at the end of the 2016 season after disagreements with the managing director, Cyril Abiteboul, on how the team should be run.[6] Subsequently, he was hired by Sauber in July 2017.

Sauber F1 Team (2017–2022)

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On 12 July 2017, Sauber announced that they had signed up Vasseur as managing director and CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG as well as team principal of the Sauber F1 Team.[7]

Scuderia Ferrari (2023–present)

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On 13 December 2022, Scuderia Ferrari announced the departure of team principal Mattia Binotto. They subsequently appointed Vasseur as his replacement. He is the fourth non-Italian and the second Frenchman to head the Scuderia, after Jean Todt.[8]

Vasseur achieved his first win as team principal when Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. took victory at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.[9] He achieved his first 1-2 in the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, led by Sainz and followed by Charles Leclerc.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "Scuderia Ferrari Team: Frédéric Vasseur - Ferrari.com". www.ferrari.com. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  2. ^ Airy, Salomy (26 February 2024). Fred Vasseur Wife Marie Laure: Ferrari Principal Married Life & Kids Players Bio. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  3. ^ Golson, Jordan (9 September 2014). "What You Need to Know Before the First Ever Formula E Race This Weekend". Wired. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  4. ^ O'Kane, Sean (13 February 2017). "New concept images show just how crazy Formula E's race cars will look next year". The Verge. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  5. ^ Biesbrouck, Tim (13 February 2017). "Spark Racing Technology releases first concept images of new Formula E car". Electric Autosport. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Analysis: Blow for Renault as Vasseur leaves "by mutual consent" ahead of 2017 F1 season". James Allen on F1. 11 January 2017. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  7. ^ "The Sauber F1 Team announces Frédéric Vasseur as the new Team Principal". www.sauberf1team.com. 12 July 2017. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  8. ^ Smith, Luke (13 December 2022). "Ferrari Announces Vasseur as New Formula 1 Boss". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Vasseur reflects on 'emotional' first win as Ferrari boss". Formula1.com. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Vasseur warns Ferrari not to 'get carried away'". Formula1.com. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.