Among the messages that Frederic Vasseur wanted to send at the end of the 2023 Formula 1 pre-season testing session that concluded yesterday is the fact that for Ferrari there is no alarm. The Scuderia team principal underlined the positive aspects that emerged from the ‘three days’ in Sakhir, postponing assessments of the SF-23’s competitiveness to the race weekend.
Frederic Vasseur doesn’t want to hear about pressure, doesn’t launch into predictions for next weekend and confirms the confidence he underlined on the occasion of the presentation of the new single-seater. He explained the reasons behind the changes to the ‘pit wall’, also confirming that his new role will not bring him into the media spotlight with the approach of Toto Wolff and Christian Horner.
What did the drivers confirm at the end of the tests?
“If they were happy we would probably be faced with a wrong professional approach. The DNA of this sport leads to always wanting to achieve more and having to do more. Excluding those who take the lead in qualifying, if a driver is happy with the balance it means that he isn’t pushing enough, I find it normal for a driver to ask for more and more grip, it’s part of the game. Summing up at the end of the three days, I see that the performance is there, but obviously we don’t know much about our opponents.”
What do you think about the tyre degradation we have seen in the race simulations?
“I know you’ve analyzed all the stints… but you’ll also have seen that we completed a lot of laps trying different things. And some worked well right away, others less so. I’m quite happy with what we’ve done in these three days. The most important thing in winter testing is being able to put in the kilometres, because when for some reason you don’t succeed, it’s a disaster.”
How is your working relationship with Benedetto Vigna set up?
“We talk every day, it’s very important for me to have the full support of Ferrari and I’m really happy with this.”
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Last season the development program was not up to par with Red Bull. Will anything change?
“I don’t want to comment on last year, it was probably a choice aimed at focusing on some projects in view of 2023, it’s a choice. Last season’s development program I think was also affected by the fact that Red Bull and Mercedes had started very late in 2021, and as a result their 2022 cars started the season overweight.”
“In a situation like this, it was quite easy for them to improve performance by reducing weight, there is a direct impact on performance. Today I think we have a good starting point, we haven’t had any major problems in the three days of testing just he concluded, and it is a fundamental aspect. We have developments planned until the final phase of the season, but I expect that we will all have something already in Jeddah or Melbourne, I don’t think it’s a secret “. – the French manager concluded.
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