Head of Ferrari’s staffing decisions

“Ferrari” will enter the new season of “Formula-1” with a new boss – in 2023, Mattia Binotto will go into obscurity, and in his place has already been appointed the former chief of “Sauber” – “Alfa Romeo” Frederick Wasser.

He is well known as the saviour and stabilizer of one of the last private Formula 1 teams. Still, he can be called the owner of almost the most comprehensive network of acquaintances among the racers and managers. All thanks to a long and highly successful career in the youth series. Playing live casino games online can also be in slots on the auto theme, mainly playing for Ferrari. 

In Motorsport, Frederick started in 1996 when he created the ASM team – which worked with Renault and Mercedes. Then in 2004, together with the son of former Ferrari boss and FIA President Jean Todt Nicolas – agent and manager of many drivers (including Daniil Kvyat) – Wasser expanded the program and collaboration with manufacturers. As a result, the system was named ART Grand Prix, and most of the talented drivers from around the world ended up in it, at least for a short period.

Seriously: if you look at the starting grid of 2023, it turns out: 11 of the 20 drivers of Formula 1 took part in the program launched by Vasseur!

Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) 2009-2012

Probably the most striking example of cooperation: the Finnish driver spent in the program “ART”, the essential part of his youth career, went up to the tester and reserve contract in F1 with “Williams” and played for teams Wasser up to his debut in the Grand Prix. By the way, Valtteri’s manager is current Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, and he is also Wasser’s best friend in the paddock. So it is not surprising that Fred took #77 to him after the change of Finn to George Russell in the factory team.

Nick de Vries (“Alfa Tauri”) – 2016 and 2019

By the way, after leaving Formula 2, the current rookie Alfa Tauri got a place in Formula E – he raced in the Mercedes factory. And then worked as a reserve for Mercedes and in F1.

Esteban Ocon (“Alpin”) – 2013 and 2015-2016

Esteban also drove ten races in the German-bodied DTM for the joint Mercedes and ART team! And yes, in 2015, he moved to the junior Mercedes program and made his way to F-1 through it – riding on rentals at Manor and Force India and tuning cars for Hamilton and Bottas in the simulator in 2019. Then, only in 2020, he returned to Renault, cutting ties with the Germans.

Charles Lecler (“Ferrari”) – 2012-2013, 2016.

They’ve been together so long and firmly that the topic of longtime acquaintance with Leclair is the most frequent of the experts’ versions of why Scuderia hired Vasser.

“Back in the younger series, Fred believed in me, and we have always had a good relationship. But, of course, that shouldn’t influence any decisions. He was always forthright, sincere – that’s what I liked about Fred,” Leclair told me.

Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) 2007-2009

The contract with Nico Hülkenberg to replace Kevin Magnussen was one of Vasser’s last decisions during his time at Renault.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2005-2006

It was the stretch at ART that lit Hamilton up in front of the F1 paddock as a future star – he had been known before (even tried to lure him from McLaren’s academy to Williams), but two years of wins with Vasser helped Lewis convince the English giant to give him a place right now against two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.

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Zhou Guangyu (Alfa Romeo) – debut in F1

Throughout the 2021-the, Wasser assured: “Ferrari” does not affect the choice of pilots Sauber, and the Swiss are free to take whomever they want to replace the Scuderia reserve Antonio Giovinazzi. And so it turned out: from all the options with young pilots, Frederick preferred the first Chinese in the “F1” – even despite the presence in the roster of a young super-talent Theo Purscher.

And hardly a wish: Zhou scored points in the first race, came 8th in the Canadian Grand Prix and looked pretty good for a debutant.

Kevin Magnussen – a return to F1 in 2016 at Renault

One of the first decisions Vasser made after the transition to the “F-1” was the return of Kevin Magnussen. Because another protégé of the Frenchman, Stoffel Vandoorne, was sitting tightly on a contract with McLaren and chose yesterday’s debutant Ocon, the factory team did not dare. So Frederick took from McLaren completely lost value Magnussen – and then “Renault” again heated up, delaying negotiations with the Dane on the contract extension. In the end, KeyMag got angry and left for Haas, and Wasser went to Viry, too – and the relationship got better.

• “Fred Wasser was the boss when I was driving for Renault, and the atmosphere was pretty tense. But now we high-five each other every time we meet,” claims the Haas leader. And during Renault, Fred’s acquaintances in the peloton were even wider!
• “I have a negotiating advantage – 70 per cent of the current Formula One drivers were driving for the ART team that I used to manage,” Wasser told me in 2016. And it’s true – with Fred constantly expanding it!

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – negotiated a move to Renault.

The current Scuderia pilot has not previously performed under the guidance of Vasser, but in general, could: it turns out that at the end of 2016, it was Fred negotiating with Carlos about a possible transition to Renault. However, the Spaniard was not let go of “Red Bull”, and the French took Hulkenberg – but a year later, Carlos was still in Viry. The ties laid down worked.

But riders are only too happy to work with Frederick – even those who have yet to ride under him.

“I think Wasser will help us develop, and he understands where we’re coming from. Magnussen and I have known him for a long time from the Junior Series; Frederic knows how to work with young drivers,” said Renault driver Jolyon Palmer in 2016. – He also knows how to manage a successful team; he’s a racer. Wasser understands drivers. Hopefully, this will help us show our best qualities.”