Frederic Vasseur and Ferrari’s new mentality
Since he first stepped into Maranello (December 2022/January 2023), Frederic Vasseur has understood the magnitude of the challenge awaiting him: making Ferrari a winning team again. Under the Frenchman’s leadership, many of those closely associated with the Mattia Binotto era have left, and others trusted by the team principal have arrived. However, it’s clear that it’s not just about the personnel in the factory, on the pit wall, or at the track. Fred Vasseur has had to work on the mindset of his people and is continuing to push for a mentality change within the Maranello team, demanding continuous improvements and acting as a “balancer” of emotions. Many times, from Canada onwards, we’ve heard him say, “We weren’t heroes in Monte Carlo, and we aren’t failures now.” Over these months, he has tried to boost the morale of a team that was highly praised after Monte Carlo but downcast after Montreal.
Frederic Vasseur’s comments
“Internally, the mood is good. We certainly wanted to achieve more, and we probably overreacted in some races, trying to get more,” said Frederic Vasseur.
“When you have an aggressive attitude, sometimes you get less,” the Frenchman explained, referring to the four difficult races after Monte Carlo (Canada, Spain, Austria, and Great Britain), which included an upgrade package that has so far been ineffective. “We need to stay calm: in some way, it’s necessary to have frustration when things don’t go well, because it’s also the best drive to get back to the top, but everything needs to be kept under control. We had four tough weekends, where the team’s mood wasn’t positive, but there was positivity in trying to recover, understand the difficulties, and solve the problem. The attitude is good.” – the Ferrari team principal added.
“If I have to be proud of something, it’s not about the result; that’s just a consequence. It’s the fact that everyone is more willing to take risks, a little less afraid. We are trying to change the mentality a bit: to win, you have to take risks. It’s probably also in Red Bull’s DNA. This is where we need to take a step forward.” – Frederic Vasseur concluded.
