Fred Vasseur on Mattia Binotto: “Certain choices made last year didn’t work”. Fred Vasseur on Mattia Binotto.

Fred Vasseur doesn’t mince words, a communicative skill that we have indeed recognized since the beginning of his complicated assignment in Maranello. The new Scuderia Ferrari team principal started his role with many doubts and a staff that gradually fell apart, but in recent months, he seems to have found a way to shape the project by finding a foundation to build upon. However, Fred Vasseur expected a significantly better foundation, as he stated in a recent interview with the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.

“I don’t want to blame anyone. But last year, certain choices were made. From the first kilometers at Fiorano, and then in the tests in Bahrain, we realized they didn’t work. The simulations had underestimated some negative effects on the behavior of the car. So we were forced to seek a compromise between performance and drivability.” – the French manager pointed out.

Although not directly pointing to anyone, the reference to former team principal Mattia Binotto seems rather obvious, and in this regard, Fred Vasseur is asked if he had more contact with him.

“No, I only met him before being appointed. And now I don’t want to waste energy thinking about the past. The past is the past, I don’t know what the dynamics were within the team at that time.” – he admitted.

After the updates brought to Spain and fine-tuned in Canada, the team seems to have found the right path to address some of the issues with the SF-23, particularly regarding race pace, which has been inconsistent and at times poor this season under certain tire wear and fuel load conditions. Fred Vasseur confirmed that there is now a certain optimism:

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“In Canada, we made progress. From the first day, we knew what was not working with this car, fast in qualifying on a single lap but difficult to manage in the race. We had to ‘turn the ship around,’ change the direction of development. It takes months, the process started in March in the wind tunnel after discovering the problems.”

Identifying the problems is the first step towards progress; now, the right people are needed to solve them, and Ferrari is actively working to bring important technicians to Maranello, with at least one of them confirmed by Frederic Vasseur to be “top-notch.”

“No names, it’s part of a broader plan for reinforcements. That’s how things are in Formula 1. Do you want a junior engineer? They’ll arrive in 6 months. Do you want a senior one? It’ll take at least 18 months. This, what I consider a ‘top guy,’ will work on the 2025 car.” – he explained.

Meanwhile, the Maranello team is still working intensely and took advantage of the filming day in Fiorano to test a new floor and a new front wing.

The upcoming Austrian Grand Prix will be an important round to determine if the direction taken is indeed the correct one. It’s a significantly different circuit, and we’re not just talking about the track layout and asphalt type, but also a factor that could challenge Ferrari, which is the altitude.

The track is located at 677 meters above sea level, enough to decrease air density and therefore aerodynamic resistance and downforce by about 7 points. Despite the many straights, teams will use rear wings with more downforce, and the generated downforce from the floor will be crucial, with cars needing to travel very low. This is a weak point for the SF-23, and Frederic Vasseur knows it well: “It’s the opposite of Canada. If we perform well there too, we’ll have confirmation that we’ve taken the right path.” – the French manager concluded.