New Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur is confident that he will be able to manage the Formula 1 team “as I want” in the 2023 championship
Ex-Alfa Romeo Sauber team boss Frederic Vasseur was given the unique opportunity to lead the Ferrari F1 Racing Division after Italian manager Binotto handed in his resignation at the end of the 2022 season, having lost the trust of chairman John Elkann and chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna due to a series of operational and strategic issues that prevented Charles Leclerc and the Maranello team from challenging Red Bull for the world title, despite the strong start in 2022, with the F1-75 car able to match the Red Bull challenger in the first half of the season.
Frederic Vasseur now has the difficult task of fixing the errors seen last year and helping Scuderia Ferrari make a further step forward by fighting for their first World Championship since their 2008 Constructors’ title, an achievement that the last three Ferrari bosses, stretching back to Stefano Domenicali, did not manage.
Internal politics have always been a difficult aspect to manage for any Ferrari team principal. However, Frederic Vasseur is confident that he will have the possibility and freedom to run the Formula 1 Racing Division to the best of his abilities within the larger Ferrari company.
“The situation is quite clear, the [F1] team is part of the big organisation of Ferrari,” Frederic Vasseur explained, in a recent interview for the Italian and international media, when questioned about his authority – “I have a CEO and the situation is crystal clear. Even last year at Sauber, I had to report to the chairman of the group, you are always going to have a boss, and that is not a new situation for me. Now that I’m running the team, I will have the delegation to do it and do it as I want. I have enough discussion with [managing director] Benedetto [Vigna] and [chairman] John [Elkann] on a daily basis to discuss the key points. It is crystal clear and it is working perfectly.” – the French manager pointed out.
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Asked to further comment on this manner, Frederic Vasseur wanted to expand on his relationship with chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna – who has been with Ferrari since mid-2021.
“What I found is that I have a very direct relationship with Benedetto, we have dinner two or three times a week and are on the phone every single day. The organisation of the team at the end [of the day] doesn’t matter to me if communications or commercial is reporting to the group or to me. We have a direct collaboration that will work.” – Fred Vasseur concluded.
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