82-year-old Mario Andretti, who raced for Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1 in 1971, 1972 and two more times in 1982, has backed the Maranello team to perform strong in the 2023 Formula 1 season, despite some general concern regarding the way in which the team will react to the recent management changes, with former team principal Mattia Binotto being replaced by Frederic Vasseur at the top of the Racing Division.
Mattia Binotto has been working for the Maranello team for almost three decades and was promoted to the role of team principal four years ago, but having lost the confidence of the Ferrari senior management he handed in his resignation following a rather disappointing 2022 Formula 1 campaign.
The Italian side was expected to finally mount a challenge for both World Championships against Red Bull and Mercedes, but pressure grew at the top of the Maranello team as a series of errors made life easy for Red Bull and Max Verstappen, who came out on top in Drivers and Constructors’ standings despite a positive start to the 2022 season for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc.
This all happened despite the fact that Ferrari’s F1-75 was in fact the fastest car in the first half of the season and remained the best over one lap during the championship, as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz securing 12 pole positions in the 22 events that took place this season. Unfortunately a combination of operational errors and power unit reliability issues meant the Maranello team could only convert the many pole positions in four race victories.
Former World Champion and forme Ferrari man Mario Andretti believes that the Italian side will come back stronger in 2023 given the fact that the power unit issues should be solved and the set of regulations is mostly the same, while at the same time pointing out that Ferrari can count on two fast drivers to work with moving forward.
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“I think they have a competitive package, they proved that in 2022,” Mario Andretti said during an interview for the official Twitch channel of Spanish outlet SoyMotor.
“They’re not going to change too many things technically for next year, beyond some updates, so I think Ferrari is going to be there… and I hope so, as it’s good for Formula 1. There are going to be some changes, but the driver pairing remains the same and that’s good. I think it’s a great pairing.” – the former Formula One driver added.
“Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz complement each other well together and each is capable of winning, we have seen that already. Ferrari could be very strong in 2023 and be a real contender for the championship.” – Mario Andretti continued.
Frederic Vasseur has been appointed as new team boss, after six years working for Alfa Romeo, as the Maranello team will be hoping to fight for its first Constructors’ Championship since 2008 and its first Drivers’ Championship since Kimi Raikkonen won the 2007 title in a dramatic final round of the season.
While some feel that a change at the top could make things more difficult on the short term, the former World Champion is confident Ferrari have the resources and ability to learn from their mistakes, to improve and mount a title challenge against Red Bull and Mercedes next year.
“I don’t think they will come out of it badly, with Binotto’s departure,” Mario Andretti adeed – “The human part is very important, but the equipment is more important and the equipment is there, there is no doubt about it. In terms of minimising some of the mistakes they made, I think they have admitted that. From the drivers’ point of view, between Carlos and Charles they will be discussing some things that they won’t be able to repeat. It’s not unusual for this to happen to a team.”
“Obviously things could be better, but everybody can pull themselves together and fix the problems. Sometimes you learn from mistakes and I have a lot of faith that Ferrari will be competitive for 2023.” – the former Formula One driver concluded.
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