‘Focused on myself. Don't care about others’ - Frederic Vasseur’s bold remark as talk of fight with Red Bull and McLaren heats up

Amid reports and speculation about a potential title battle with Red Bull and McLaren, Scuderia Ferrari's team principal Frederic Vasseur has insisted he doesn't “care” about the rivals. The Italian squad's general manager is focused on how his team can improve their game, even though they currently trail by 24 points in the constructors’ standings.

Ferrari and McLaren brought significantly updated packages to Imola and Miami, which has fueled talk of an impending championship battle in recent weeks. Those upgrades helped the British racing team excel in Florida, while Vasseur’s side won the most recent round in Monaco.

Meanwhile, Red Bull narrowly edged out McLaren at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, a Formula One motor racing event held at Imola, thanks to Max Verstappen's heroics. Vasseur feels talk of a three-way battle is premature, highlighting that it is too early in the season to focus on the performance of the competitors.

When asked after the Monaco Grand Prix about the possibility of a fight with Red Bull and the rumours about it, the 56-year-old said: "It's not me - I'm not speaking about that." 

"We are fighting with McLaren and Red Bull for first. I'm only focused on myself. I don't care about the others. The target is to do a good job to improve the car, to do a good job with the drivers,” said Vasseur.

"Then we are fighting with the guys who are with us on the grid. I'm not focused at all on someone because we have still 17 [16] races to go,” he added.

I'm not doing a fixation on Red Bull: Vasseur

The developments at Imola initially looked promising for the Italian squad, especially as Red Bull struggled to find form. However, their performance faded in qualifying, with the Milton Keynes team renewed. Vasseur highlighted the performances of Ferrari and McLaren, but avoided talk of the defending champions.

"McLaren is a contender, but for sure, today, we were one-three, they do two-four - we had exactly the same pace. I think yesterday [in qualifying] it was a matter of one-tenth of a second,” Vasseur said.

"And they were in front of us last week in Imola, and it will be like this until the end [of the season]. I was not thinking about Red Bull, and I'm not doing a fixation on Red Bull at all,” added the Frenchman.