In the last part of an extensive interview given by Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur to the Italian daily newspaper Autosprint, the French manager expressed skepticism about the possibility of new teams entering Formula 1 in addition to the existing ten. He then described how he envisions his “home” Grand Prix as the head of the Scuderia Ferrari team. Below are his comments:
Fred Vasseur and the eleventh team on the starting grid
Frederic Vasseur stated: “We must remember what happened in the past when we opened up. Five years ago, Honda announced its withdrawal and Renault was more outside than inside Formula 1. There were only Ferrari and Mercedes as engine manufacturers. We struggled to stay at ten, but we said that only if someone like Porsche or Audi comes in as an engine manufacturer, we can’t close the door. Now there are six engine manufacturers on the grid, which is never too many, but I don’t see where an eleventh team would bring an advantage. The national audience supports drivers more than teams. In the Netherlands, there are no teams, but the success is still total. We would need a Brazilian or Asian driver to develop fan interest.” – he pointed out.
“To date, there are six English teams within a few kilometers, but we can’t forget the past. I was present at the 2016 Brazilian GP when in the last lap of the race, Sauber and Manor were on the track with a sword of Damocles over their heads: if one had finished in the points, the other would have disappeared. And that’s what happened. Sauber remained in F1 while the other went bankrupt the day after the race. Today it’s not like that, but we can’t exclude that certain things could happen again in the future.” – the Ferrari boss explained.
Speaking of the Academy, Fred Vasseur responded to the question of whether he thinks having a privileged channel with some teams to debut young talents is useful or not: “Absolutely not. If a driver is good, they will ask me. Just like I did when I was at Alfa Romeo and I asked Ferrari for Leclerc.”
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The Frenchman concluded his lengthy interview by talking about his expectations for the Monza race, which, after the cancellation of Imola, will be his first home Grand Prix as the team principal of the Maranello team. These are his comments:
“It will certainly be a special race. We know we’ll have more fans, sponsors, pressure, and expectations, but the preparation work can’t change. It’s a super-fast track with little downforce and unique characteristics that don’t justify a specific approach. We know it will be a special race and we want to satisfy the fans, but inevitably the favorites will be teams like Aston Martin, who traditionally developed their car for this type of track, where they perform much better than the average.” – Fred Vasseur concluded.
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