Scuderia Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has revealed the obstacles he faces in his pursuit of attracting Formula 1’s brightest minds to Italy as he endeavors to rejuvenate the historic Italian team and bring Ferrari to the top of the sport.
Having taken over from Mattia Binotto as Ferrari team principal earlier this year, Fred Vasseur has encountered a challenging inaugural championship at the helm. The SF-23 car’s inconsistency has posed a significant challenge for drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in most of the races held so far in 2023, with some slight improvements seen only in the last race, the Canadian Grand Prix.
Additionally, the Frenchman has had to navigate the departure of several key personnel who have been lured away by rival teams. McLaren secured the services of head of vehicle concept David Sanchez, while Laurent Mekies, the sporting director, will be soon departing to assume the role of AlphaTauri team principal.
While the Scuderia is actively engaged in recruitment efforts, Fred Vasseur acknowledges the inherent difficulties posed by the team’s Italian base, as it is one of only four Formula 1 teams situated outside the United Kingdom. Nonetheless, he anticipates the imminent announcement of a notable addition to the Maranello team’s ranks.
“It’s not the same situation – you can move from Red Bull to Mercedes, keep the same hours, keep children in the same school and from the Friday to the Monday you can change and everything is perfect,” Fred Vasseur explains in a recent interview for Sky Sports F1’s Rachel Brookes – “If you want to come to Italy, it’s a different approach. You have to change the family environment and so on. But as soon as you are in Italy I think it’s more difficult to leave – the food is much better and the quality of life in Italy is mega. Sometimes it can play into discussions because they have to move the family, it depends on the situation of the children, it’s not always easy but as soon as we are able to attract someone they are staying. I had the same situation at Sauber, it was difficult to ask them to come but as soon as they were in Switzerland they stayed in Switzerland.” – the French manager explained.
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Since their last triumph in securing the constructors’ championship back in 2008, Scuderia Ferrari has been unable to clinch a Formula 1 title, despite having some world class drivers during this time, such as Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen or Sebastian Vettel.
Ferrari seemed to be back on the right path last year, but their competitive drive waned in the latter half of 2022, and this year they have failed to contend for top honors, with Red Bull establishing a commanding lead in the field, as Max Verstappen will go on to easily win another title.
Team boss Fred Vasseur revealed that he is devoting a considerable amount of time to recruiting fresh talent in order to reverse Ferrari’s fortunes. However, he cautioned that the lengthy “gardening leave” clauses in Formula 1 contracts mean that it will take several years before these key signings can join the Maranello team and make a substantial impact.
He explained: “I joined a couple of months ago, you need to understand what is the situation before you start to recruit. This process is a long one, they will join in 12 or 24 months and even the process of recruitment is not from one day to another, it means we are in the middle of this but it will arrive soon. Recruitment is where Formula 1 is not agile at all. It means if you have a project, if you want to work with people, if you want to change the structure of a department – not speaking about Ferrari, in a general case – this takes months to understand what you want to do, to find the right people and then months or years to get them on board. It means sometimes you are speaking more about years than about races. Sometimes it can be frustrating because you are pushing like hell, I’m spending perhaps two thirds of my time on recruitment and we are signing contract for the end of 2024 in the best case scenario, maybe 2025.” – the French manager concluded.
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