Force India ruled Frenchman Jules Bianchi out of the reckoning for the last remaining race seat in Formula One on Wednesday, leaving the way open for Germany's Adrian Sutil to make a comeback.
Vasseur and his compatriot Nicolas Todt, son of Jean and manager of Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, are close and founded the junior series ART racing team together.
Formula One's post-season shake-up took another spin on Tuesday with Williams announcing the departure of technical head Pat Symonds while Valtteri Bottas moved closer to Mercedes and Felipe Massa's retirement looked to be coming to an end.
However intense the pain felt by Formula One after Jules Bianchi's horrific accident in Japan, and the shock is deep indeed, Friday's inaugural Russian Grand Prix practice offers some respite.
Jules Bianchi had a bright future in Formula One.
Formula One world champions past and present paid their respects to Jules Bianchi and mourned one of their own at the French driver's funeral on Tuesday.
