Fred Vasseur's comments about Red Bull and McLaren speak volumes ahead of Canadian GP

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has insisted he is not thinking about his rivals ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend - underlining how focused he is on his own team off the back of their success in Monaco.

The Scuderia team chief has claimed he is instead remaining focused on what Ferrari can do to improve their performance and has stated it is still too early in the campaign to consider how Red Bull and Mclaren could impact the destination of the title.

Chatter of a major battle for the championship has intensified in recent weeks after Ferrari were victorious in the most recent race at Monaco. While McLaren won in Miami, they were narrowly defeated at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix by Red Bull after an impressive display by Max Verstappen.

However, despite each team trading blows, Ferrari honcho Vasseur feels any talk of a three-way battle is a little too premature, even though his team trails the champions by just 24 points in the constructors' standings.

"It's not me - I'm not speaking about that," the 56-year-old said. Vasseur, speaking to the media and RacingNews365, asserted that any clash with Red Bull and McLaren was irrelevant as he is only thinking about himself and how he and his team can better themselves.

He added, "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.

"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 16 races to go."

Ferrari looked to be in a strong position in Imola with Red Bull struggling to find their feet, however the weekend wrapped with Charles Leclerc to take a podium in third, with Carlos Sainz finishing fifth. Leclerc's position was also boosted by Oscar Piastri being demoted from second to fifth on the grid.

At the subsequent round, McLaren and Ferrari finished the race in alternate positions, but there wasn't much joy for Verstappen who finished in sixth place. Vasseur did entertain talk of just how close the two leading teams were, and despite hinting that a scrap with the two teams looked inevitable, he claimed he wasn't fixating on his rivals.

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

"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."

Vasseur's talk of a championship challenge isn't the only reason for Ferrari fans to get excited with the team boss rumoured to be close to striking an agreement Oliver Bearman, who is considered to be Ferrari's best young prospect.

The move for Bearman wouldn't be the Frenchman's first big play since since he replaced Mattia Binotto as the team principal with Vasseur having already secured Lewis Hamilton for next season.

Ferrari have also poached several key members of staff from Mercedes, including Loic Serra and Jerome d'Ambrosio, in recent weeks and they have also been linked with a potential move for outgoing Red Bull designer Adrian Newey as Vasseur looks to shore up his team ahead of the 2025 campaign.