Jenson Button: Ferrari staff feel "it’s easy to be pushed out the door"

2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button discussed the atmosphere at Ferrari during the Singapore Grand Prix, claiming that "everyone feels it’s easy to be pushed out the door."

Ferrari is fighting for second position in the constructors’ championship. With six race weekends remaining in the 2025 season, three of which will host sprint races, Ferrari sits third with 298 points behind Mercedes in second with 325 points. McLaren secured the victory in Singapore.

After ending the 2024 season in a close battle for the constructors' championship and signing seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton for 2025, expectations were high heading into the current season. But in addition to Hamilton struggling to adapt to the team, the Maranello outfit has faced its fair share of issues so far this year, which have resulted in no grand prix wins at this stage.

This led Button to analyse the environment at Ferrari. “You can’t be afraid to fail. And that’s what it feels like at Ferrari. I think everyone feels it’s easy to be pushed out the door, and it’s not a nice feeling to have," he explained to Sky Sports F1.

"You need to have consistency throughout the team. It gives everyone confidence, and the drivers confidence. So I hope that’s not the case next year. I hope that they see out the whole year together, because there’s going to be so much change for the first race, but also the 24th race of next year.

"So much is going to change throughout the year. So it’s a great team, and I think it has really good leadership, and you don’t get a better driver line-up than that, no?"

Jenson Button, Sky F1

He added: "It’s not been the season that they would have hoped [for]. Obviously, Lewis going to Ferrari, was expecting great things in 2025, and you always think, as a driver, that you can make the difference. But in this sport, you’re up against the best.

"So, it’s not been the best, but it hasn’t been horrific either. They just haven’t been consistently fighting the McLarens, but no one has. The only other person that has really, on a few occasions, is one individual, Max Verstappen."

After rumours began to circulate ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix that team principal Fred Vasseur was at risk of losing his job, the Frenchman spoke out to strongly shut down the speculation.

“It’s not about myself, I think, because this I can manage,” Vasseur said at the time. “It’s more about the people of the team; I think it’s just disrespectful for them, for [their] families. We had the case last year with the chief of aero already.” 

He added: “I don’t know the target. I don’t understand the target. Perhaps it’s to give s**t to the team. But in this case, I don’t see the point. Perhaps it’s for them the only way to exist. This is probably more the reason, but it’s really hurting the team.

"At one stage, it’s a lack of focus, and when you are fighting for the championship, every single detail makes the difference. And from the beginning of the weekend, we are just speaking about this.

“If it’s their target to put the team in this situation, they reach their goal. But I think it’s not like this that we’ll be able to win a championship, at least not with this kind of journalist around us.”

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