Fred Vasseur looks back on his first year as Ferrari team principal – what was the biggest challenge for him and how Ferrari is positioning itself for the future
“I’m still alive – that’s good news,” jokes Fred Vasseur when asked how he looks back on his first year as team principal at Ferrari. The Frenchman took over at the end of 2022 from Mattia Binotto, who had tried in vain for four years to lead the Scuderia back to the top.
Vasseur’s debut was a bumpy one from a sporting perspective, with Ferrari lagging behind in the first half of the season. After the summer break, however, there was a significant improvement in performance. In the end, Ferrari was the only team to take at least one race win from Red Bull over the course of the season.
“A year ago it was … ‘tough’ is not the right word, but it was quite a challenge,” Vasseur looks back. “I came in quite late and there was a lot to manage, understand and discover in those few weeks because it was only four weeks before the launch and five or six before Bahrain.”
“Now I’m in a much more comfortable situation. I know almost everyone in the company, I know the system and I have a better understanding of it and I think I’m doing a good job, a better job than last year. “
Vasseur: Must maintain momentum
In this context, the 55-year-old points to the progress the team made towards the end of the year, but also says: “Formula 1 is a never-ending process. When you feel you’re in good shape, you’re almost dead.”
“We have to keep the momentum going. I think the last part of the season went pretty well, but it’s never enough. We can’t let up.”
When he took office, Vasseur emphasized that he would not change anything until he knew the team and its situation inside out. Asked about this a year later, the Frenchman revealed: “We’ve already changed a few people – I’m not a big fan of communicating names, I’m not going to do that. “
“But it’s not about one person or even about me, it’s about the group. The most important thing is the group of people we have, and I’m quite proud of the team’s reaction during the season as a group, including the riders. “
Ferrari is busy recruiting new staff
“We’ve had a tough first six months up to Monza, but the response has been good and that means we’re working pretty well as a group. Of course, you always have to make individual changes in an organization and we are doing that.”
According to him, Ferrari is in a busy recruitment process. “But you know the system in Formula 1, there is a lot of inertia because of existing contracts.”
“When you identify a problem, you decide to hire someone. You go through the recruitment process and then they come in twelve months later with a six-month notice period. That very often means you don’t feel the impact of that until a year later – or two or three. “