With Ferrari facing setbacks after a strong start to the season, Frederic Vasseur emphasized the importance of staying calm both internally and in front of the media.
Fred Vasseur’s Method
The 252 points earned in the first eight races, just 24 points behind a Red Bull team that seemed surprisingly human, and the fantastic victory in Monaco with Charles Leclerc, gave fans—and perhaps Frederic Vasseur—hope that Ferrari could finally contend for the title.
However, the updates introduced in Barcelona, aimed at further optimizing an already promising project, caused the SF-24 to derail abruptly and dangerously, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz managing to accumulate only 93 points in 6 races since the Montreal race.
Signs of recovery were only seen in Belgium, with Charles Leclerc back on pole position thanks to Max Verstappen’s penalty, and on the podium in the race due to George Russell’s disqualification, finishing just eight seconds behind the winner.
After 14 GPs, Ferrari now finds itself in third place in the Constructors’ Championship, 63 points off the lead, still fully in the fight, partly due to the unexpected decline of the Milton Keynes team. However, in the last few races, Ferrari has had to relinquish its position as the second strongest team to an increasingly dominant McLaren, with Mercedes also making significant strides.
“Internally, the mood is good,” says Fred Vasseur in an interview with the Formula 1 website, emphasizing the importance of staying calm internally and in front of the media during this very delicate phase of the championship.
“Of course, we wanted to achieve more and probably overreached in some events, trying to get more. When you have an aggressive approach, sometimes you end up with less. We need to stay calm.”
“In some way, you have to have a certain level of frustration when you’re not doing well because it’s also the best drive to come back, but it must remain under control. We had four difficult weekends: the team’s mood wasn’t good because it wasn’t what we wanted, but there was positivity in trying to recover, understand why, and fix the problem. The attitude is good.”
Taking Risks to Win
Continuing in the interview, the French manager explained how his mindset and approach have led the Maranello team to make significant progress compared to last year, despite the challenges encountered: “If I have to be proud of something, it’s not the result. The result is a consequence. It’s more about the fact that everyone is more willing to take risks, a bit less afraid. The result is the consequence.” – the Ferrari team principal added.
“The fact that we are trying to change the mentality a bit. You can’t stay within the margin. You have to take risks everywhere to win. This is a racer’s mentality. It’s probably also part of Red Bull‘s DNA. It’s the point where we need to take a step forward.”
“There are people who can focus on the positives and others who look at areas for improvement, and I think I lean more towards the latter. I don’t spend energy or time in my life asking myself every morning: ‘Are we satisfied with what we’ve done?’”
“This is competition. I’ve done nine races in 10 weeks or something like that. The most important thing is to focus on your weaknesses and maintain a continuous improvement approach.”
Finally, the Frenchman added: “My job is more about not blaming everything, encouraging them, or trying to motivate them. Sometimes my job is more about keeping calm, both in positive and negative situations.” – he pointed out.
“The reaction to everything is always to amplify, first internally but also externally—with journalists—and this part of my job is to convince everyone that we aren’t world champions after Canada or Monaco. And we’re not much worse a week after Canada.” – Frederic Vasseur concluded.
Source: f1ingenerale
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