Frederic Vasseur will not attend Monaco Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday for medical reasons, and what time is the monaco grand prix is part of the backdrop as Ferrari loses its team principal for a key session. Ferrari said he was not at the circuit on Saturday and would remain under observation at a local medical facility.
The team said no further medical information would be provided. It also said it looked forward to seeing him back at the track soon.
Ferrari Loses Vasseur On Saturday
Vasseur’s absence cuts across a session that already carried extra weight for Ferrari. The team had put Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc first and second in both practice sessions on Friday, a sharp sign that the weekend could be their strongest in some time.
That form sits against a longer dry spell. Ferrari have not won a grand prix since October 2024, so Saturday’s qualifying day in Monaco had become one of the most important checkpoints of the season before the team principal was ruled out.
Vasseur’s Friday Warning
Before the medical checks, Vasseur had already flagged how tight qualifying would be. In a pooled media interview after running on Friday, he said: “It was difficult to put a lap together for everybody and with 10% more cars (on the grid this year) it is more than 10% more difficult.”
He added: “Now that we have a convergence of understanding of the cars, tyres are becoming predominant again in performance, and with so many cars on track it is difficult to do a proper out-lap and I think it will be key for tomorrow, to be able to do a proper out-lap and do a clean lap.”
Binotto And The Ferrari Bench
Vasseur replaced Mattia Binotto in January 2023, and his absence on Saturday leaves Ferrari without the man guiding the operation on the day that usually shapes Monaco’s race weekend. The pressure on the garage is sharper because Friday suggested pace was there, but Monaco qualifying tends to punish any mistake in execution.
Ferrari’s statement left the team’s immediate focus on his recovery and on getting through qualifying without its principal at trackside. For a squad that had reason to believe it could fight near the front, the next step is simpler and more immediate: deliver the lap count, the clean out-lap, and the clean run Vasseur said would be key.
