Archive and restart. This approach is usually associated with those who cannot find stability in their journey. With four races remaining in the 2023 World Championship, Ferrari still needs to overcome several issues. We are not talking about technical aspects as work is underway in that area, with an understanding that the SF-23 car is characterized by a concept incompatible with generating solid performances.
In Maranello, there are other situations to normalize. When Frédéric Vasseur took over his offices in early January, he initiated a restructuring that had few precedents in the recent history of the Prancing Horse. From the very beginning, the former team principal of Sauber had to deal with voluntary departures and necessary relocations. First, the farewells of Gino Rosato and Jonathan Giacobazzi, followed by the reshaping of the operational roles of Inaki Rueda, who was moved to Maranello’s remote garage and replaced by Ravin Jain on the pit wall.
Not to mention the bolt from the blue represented by David Sanchez’s move to McLaren, which was probably not well-timed. The continuation of the red season only confirmed this. However, the consolidation did not stop there. In the heart of the season, Laurent Mekies left the team to join AlphaTauri. The void created by the departure of the Frenchman, who left no lasting impact at Ferrari, was filled by an internal resource, Diego Ioverno, who now serves as the team’s sporting director.
Ferrari: Austin Confirms There’s Much Work to Do on Strategies
Fred Vasseur’s reshuffling hasn’t come to an end, as more figures will embrace the red color in the coming months. When observing certain dynamics, it’s clear that some bad habits have remained largely unchanged. Unfortunately, the Austin Grand Prix confirmed this.
“We cannot hide the fact that today the only pit stop during the race was a wrong strategy. We need to look at our data because the ones we had made both strategies look very similar. But that wasn’t the case because I had a really hard time,” said Charles Leclerc, who didn’t hide his disappointment with a failed tactic that no one had foreseen. This confirms that Maranello’s predictive models need improvement beyond the individual in charge of the strategic department.
Frédéric Vasseur did not look for excuses and admitted without reservation that they made a half disaster in terms of choices with car number 16: “Certainly, we have regrets, when you start from pole, you cannot be happy with a fourth and a sixth place,” acknowledged the team principal at the end of 56 grueling laps.
“With Charles Leclerc, we opted for a single stop strategy, and it wasn’t the right choice. We ruined his race with the strategy. We decided everything before the race, we didn’t suddenly decide to make only one pit stop. Probably the numbers we had weren’t the best because all the others decided to make two pit stops, and we didn’t. So we need to improve in this aspect, in race predictions.” – the French manager pointed out following the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas last weekend.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
Fred Vasseur, confirming that there is some confusion in Maranello, also admitted that the single-stop option gained strength as the event unfolded. So the idea was not entirely fixed in advance. This is the pivotal passage: “If we consider that we were between one and two stops during the first stint, this is exactly where we made a mistake. We should have had a clear strategy and probably we were indecisive between one and the other and made the wrong choice.”
Ferrari’s pit wall continues to be the team’s weak link, and the changes made in the winter with key personnel have not reversed the course. Ravin Jain has not brought about the desired change, and the same problems that existed with Inaki Rueda persist. The only difference, which provides hope, is that there are no longer any justifications.
No lunar excuses are being made to cover the mistakes. Last year, even in the face of severely penalizing strategic choices, such as what happened in Monaco and Silverstone (always to the detriment of Charles Leclerc, who is not as lucky as he is fast), Mattia Binotto, perhaps with the intention of protecting his team, did not admit fault or a lapse.
Today, Fred Vasseur has no problems appearing in front of cameras and microphones, talking about mistakes and the need to fix certain issues once and for all. He may have partially contradicted himself in recounting the tactical plan, but he certainly didn’t hide behind the proverbial finger. Admitting mistakes is the first step toward redemption and overcoming them.
It was clear that time was needed when the French manager took over. And it is now evident that more time is needed to establish effective operating systems. In Ferrari, certain roles require rules and procedures, not new personnel. Even the most virtuous strategist would fail with flawed predictive models. This is what needs to be addressed, and it is being done.
Source: Diego Catalano for FUnoanalisitecnica
Leave a Reply