Coming off a strong 2022, Ferrari began the current Formula One season with the aim of challenging Red Bull for the world titles. However, they soon realized they had produced a car, the SF23, that was significantly inferior to the RB19s driven by Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
To make matters worse, the Maranello team often found themselves as the fourth force on the grid in a championship marked by a rather frenetic shift in values (as seen in the performances of McLaren and Aston Martin). They slightly reversed their course, with Charles Leclerc and his teammates climbing back up to third place in the constructors’ standings. As of today, with three events remaining in the season, they are in a tight battle with Mercedes for the second place.
Securing the status of vice champions could certainly sweeten the season’s balance. However, in Maranello, they are well aware that there is still a mountain to climb to reach Red Bull. A sign of change in view of 2024 came from Frederic Vasseur in Mexico, annoyed by another weekend where Ferrari collected fewer points than they could have. Carlo Vanzini discussed this in his regular analysis for Autosprint.
Carlo Vanzini: “Fred Vasseur is no longer satisfied; he wants perfection”
“After the race, Frederic Vasseur was clear: ‘The start put us in a position where we couldn’t have had a different, maybe better race.’ Being back on the podium, this time with Leclerc, is not enough for him; he wants perfection,” begins the journalist, reporting some of the considerations expressed by the Scuderia’s team principal after the Sunday race at Hermanos Rodriguez.
Then, still referring to the French manager, he adds: “It’s an attitude of someone who feels that he can and must start asking for more from everyone. The SF-23 will not go down in history as the best Ferrari ever, but there have been some flashes, especially in qualifying. It’s nice to see that the team boss is starting not to settle for results that are better than the initial expectations and forecasts for these last two events.” – the Italian journalist pointed out.
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A three-race journey towards 2024
“Let’s start with the certainties: the drivers are fast and competitive… the 68th all-red front row, but not translated into a victory that they believed in on Sunday morning, for the second time after Singapore… It’s a job, spanning another three races, to dispel all doubts about the weaknesses and work on them. With the energy shown by Fred Vasseur after the race, to avoid a recurrence in 2024 when a decisive change of course will be necessary in what will be the first real year of Vasseur’s ‘machine’,” emphasizes Carlo Vanzini.
He concludes his analysis by looking to the future and also touching on the topic of the contracts (expiring in 2025) of the two Ferrari drivers: “Fred Vasseur is starting to take the reins of command, now that the situation regarding the car, the team, and the drivers is much clearer. This comes at a time when negotiations for the renewal of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have also begun to ensure continuity in a leadership project that started too late, in January, according to the logic of an F1 team, but must now prove to be headed in the right direction, starting from late February when the long-awaited tests will give us the first verdicts.”
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