Fred Vasseur satisfied with Ferrari strategies: “When you’re slow, there’s not much you can do”. Frederic Vasseur satisfied with the Maranello team's strategies in the 2023 Formula 1 season.

In previous years, much has been said about Scuderia Ferrari’s continuous strategy disasters. However, during the 2023 Formula One season, these discussions gradually subsided, perhaps because the SF-23 single-seater, which was never in the fight for the championship, had other significant issues. For example, in the 2022 Formula 1 campaign, when Charles Leclerc was on par with Max Verstappen for half the season, the strategic choices against him made a lot of noise. Despite the many problems surrounding a truly challenging car, Maranello did not make too many mistakes on-track operations this year, possibly feeling more “free” from the pressure due to the car’s poor performance.

“We always have to try to do a better job,” said Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal of Ferrari. “Honestly, I think the strategies went well this season. We can discuss what happened in Austin, for example, when Charles made only one stop, but it was more about tire choice than anything else. Sometimes you make a strategic mistake because the Safety Car comes two laps after the pit stop, and you certainly don’t have a crystal ball, but we can be quite satisfied with the on-track operations, factory support, and what we are doing on the pit wall.” – the French manager explained.

“When you’re slow, there’s not much you can do. Everything went smoothly; the atmosphere has always been calm, and that’s how good decisions are made. Often, when outsiders believe that strategic choices are not good, it’s because there is a certain pace on the track. When you have a good pace, the strategy has always been good. It’s easy to make the right decisions when the car is performing well. Still, when you’re slow, you’re simply slow, and you can make one, two, or three pit stops, but if you’re not fast, it doesn’t change anything. Overall, we managed everything quite well.” – the Ferrari team boss concluded.

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