Frederic Vasseur said he is confident that no further "key" members of staff will leave Ferrari in the coming months despite speculation that a potential exodus is on the horizon.
The winter saw some staff turnover at Maranello, most notably the appointment of a new team principal after Mattia Binotto resigned. Vasseur is the man now in the hot seat in possibly the most pressured team environment in Formula 1, as Ferrari expectations are always sky high.
Binotto's departure was followed by several other staff members who were loyal to the outgoing team boss. Earlier this month, it was reported that head of vehicle concept David Sanchez has left the Scuderia after more than a decade, and has been linked with a return to former employer McLaren.
More departures have been touted. Most notably, racing director Laurent Mekies has reportedly been the subject of interest from several parties, including rival teams and F1 itself.
But Vasseur appears confident that Mekies will stay, and that the same will be true for his most important allies within the team. He told reporters: "To have people who are unhappy [and who would consider leaving], it's two different things.
"I think that it's quite normal to be unhappy when you don't get the result that you are expecting. I'm unhappy! But the most important thing is to work as a group, to work as a team and to try to get the best out of this and to do improvement. Leaving the company is another story.
"I don't know what’s happened in the past with Laurent, but I've known Laurent for 25 years or something like this. I trust him. We have a very good collaboration together and he will be one of the pillars of the future of the company.
"Honestly, it's the life of the team that we have a turnover each year. Now, if you want to speak about key people, I don't think so. For sure, we will have people leaving the team and some people joining the team. But it's like this in every single team in F1.
"Now, we are a solid group, we are building up a team for the future also, and the link is good. I don't think that key people will leave the team."
