The Vasseurs are coming: they have found a home in Bologna.
Ferrari nurtured dreams of glory in 2023 after the illusion of the 2022 Formula 1 championship. The Maranello team started the previous season by winning two of the first three races, in Bahrain and Australia with Charles Leclerc, demonstrating significant superiority. However, the championship dream faded as quickly as it had started to take shape at the beginning of the season.
The reliability issues with the power unit and the effects of the anti-porpoising technical directive after the summer break prevented Scuderia Ferrari from celebrating a victory that was only narrowly missed with Charles Leclerc in Singapore.
At the end of 2022, the then-team principal and managing director, Mattia Binotto, resigned, and Ferrari replaced him with Frederic Vasseur, who arrived from Alfa Romeo Sauber. Recently, the new leader on the track for the Scuderia in Maranello stated that they realized something was not functioning properly with the SF-23 even during the tests at Fiorano. Starting from the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, a new development direction was taken, with updates accelerated compared to the original schedule, and they were already introduced in Austria, where the Ferrari cars returned to being the second strongest force on the grid, far behind Red Bull.
Frederic Vasseur has repeatedly emphasized that it takes years to change course and redesign a team in Formula 1 because attracting valuable technicians from competitors requires long waiting periods due to gardening leave. However, with what he had immediately at his disposal, Frederic Vasseur seems to have shown that he absolutely knows what he’s doing, and the pragmatism of the French manager also emerges from strategies that focus not on the personalities of the drivers but solely on the performance of the car. As President John Elkann emphasized at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix, “what’s important is to see Ferrari progressing.”
Fred Vasseur has already made an important move in the technical market, securing what he called a “top guy” starting in 2025. In an interview with Quotidiano Nazionale, the team principal of Ferrari also stated that his family will soon join him:
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“We have found a home in Bologna, my children will study in Italy,” said Fred Vasseur. “Why don’t I speak Italian? Because I don’t have time for lessons. I enter the office early in the morning and leave late in the evening.” If he brings the World Championship back to Maranello, no one will pay attention to a celebratory interview in English or French. The arrival of his family in Bologna will certainly boost Fred Vasseur’s morale. He has shown through his actions that he is dedicated 100% to Ferrari, which has decided to bet on him. This bet is starting to bear fruit in terms of performance and results.
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