Amidst Alpine’s upheaval and Ferrari’s troubles, Italy’s president of the Senate Ignazio La Russa has proposed Flavio Briatore replace Fred Vasseur as Ferrari’s team principal.

But, he concedes, Ferrari need more than just a “great manager” to turn their fortunes around.

Flavio Briatore to Ferrari?

Italy’s national Formula 1 team, Ferrari, is having a tough start to the F1 2025 season despite high expectations in the build-up.

After Red Bull annihilated the competition in 2023 where Ferrari were the only team to sneak in a win as the Milton Keynes squad dominated with 21 wins in 22 races, the Scuderia built on that last season with five Grand Prix wins and a runner-up result in the Constructors’ Championship.

They boosted, or so the headlines claim, their prospects of a first Drivers’ Championship title since Kimi Raikkonen’s 2007 success with the signing of seven-time F1 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton.

But instead of champagne celebrations and victory flags being flown at the team’s Maranello headquarters, Ferrari are facing questions about where it went wrong.

From pointing fingers at Ferrari’s decision to change the car’s design philosophy, despite F1 2025 marking the final season under the current regulations, to debates about Hamilton’s struggles at Ferrari, the buck has ultimately stopped at team boss Fred Vasseur.

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Following a report in Germany that Ferrari had approached Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, one that PlanetF1.com understands to be accurate, fresh speculation about Vasseur’s future emerged in the build-up to the Canadian Grand Prix.

According to Corriere della Sera, Vasseur’s ‘actions have been put under scrutiny by top management. The French boss has been asked to account for the unsatisfactory performance, his position is no longer so firm, he is accused of knowing little about the internal environment.’

La Gazzetta dello Sport went as far as to put a timeline on Ferrari’s decision, claiming Vasseur had had three races to turn the tide.

Both publications speculated that Antonello Coletta, the man in charge of Ferrari’s hypercar programme, could be in line for the job. The Italian had reportedly been offered the job in the past but chose to focus on WEC, inspiring Ferrari to a hat-trick of 24 Hours of Le Mans wins.

A new name has now entered the running, or at least he’s been suggested by Italy’s president of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, as someone who could get the job done for Ferrari.

Flavio Briatore.

The controversial Italian returned to the Formula 1 paddock last year when the former championship-winning Renault team boss was announced as an Alpine executive director.

However, a year into his role, Alpine have undergone a fair amount of changes, including the decision to axe their F1 2026 engine project to become a Mercedes customer team, saying goodbye to team principal Oliver Oakes, and the more recent announcement that Renault CEO Luca de Meo had resigned.

Could Briatore to Ferrari be the next shock announcement?

“Flavio is a dear friend of mine, whatever he has done he has always done very, very well,” La Russa told La Politica nel Pallone, a Rai Radio 1 program.

“I don’t think, however, that a great manager would be enough to manage Ferrari, at this moment in time.

“I believe – I don’t deal much with engines, unlike my son – that it is a question of going much deeper than just changing the manager who leads the team.

“Flavio would be a resource that could give a major shake-up, he is capable not only of growling but also of getting things done.”

Briatore, though, made it clear during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend that he won’t be the next departure.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing,” Briatore told Reuters. “Nothing changed for me, not for me or the team.

“We continue exactly as planned. In Formula 1, stability comes from vision and execution. We have a plan. Luca supported that plan. His departure won’t stop us.”

“It’s business as usual. We’re not going backwards.”

Vasseur also downplayed the rumours that his days could be numbered, the Frenchman lashing out at the claims.

“I don’t want to waste time on it,” Vasseur told Sky Italia. “Journalists aren’t the ones who decide who we replace.

“This is just bad for the team’s concentration level and the whole environment. Doing it like this just throws everyone into the mud.

“The attacks on me aren’t a problem, I get angry when they attack the team.”

Ferrari are third in the Constructors’ Championship on 183 points, 16 behind Mercedes in the battle to finish runner-up to McLaren in the F1 2025 season.

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