Vasseur: Call to Sainz with Hamilton news was one of the “most difficult”

He jokingly compared it with making the first call to his close friend and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after tempting his driver away.

Vasseur expects that despite his obvious disappointment in losing his seat, Sainz will remain fully dedicated to the Ferrari cause this year, insisting that the team will continue to support him.

“As you can imagine it was not the easiest call of my life, one of the most difficult, with the one with Toto!,” said Vasseur when asked about giving Sainz the bad news.

“But I'm fully convinced that he a very professional driver, that he understands that it's a long season in front of us, that it's a huge opportunity.

“And I think it's also a dream to be in this situation, to have the team behind him. We had a long discussion, so as you can imagine I will be fully supportive of Carlos. He is fully committed, and we know that we have to do the job together. Together we are professionals."

Expanding on the Spaniard’s commitment he said: “I'm fully convinced that Carlos will be fully dedicated and fully committed to the season until the last lap and the last corner of the season, and equally I'm sure that all the team will be fully motivated and fully behind Carlos, who did a great job for us so far.

“Now it's important for us again to be focused on 2024. We have a good opportunity, we work so hard on the project that I don't want to have any kind of distraction.”