Former F1 driver and current Sky Sports F1 expert Martin Brundle urges Frederic Vasseur to avoid getting trapped in Scuderia Ferrari’s revolving door as he settles into his role as Maranello team boss. Despite six months in the position following Mattia Binotto’s departure at the end of the previous season. Ferrari’s performance has remained disappointing, reminiscent of the second half of the 2022 Formula One championship.
While their qualifying pace occasionally shines, their pace on Sunday has been lacking, often finding themselves battling Mercedes and Aston Martin for a place in the top five rather than competing with Red Bull at the front. To make matters worse, their rivals seem to be making further progress in unlocking their cars’ potential.
In the recent Canadian Grand Prix at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal, Ferrari secured fourth and fifth places, benefiting from issues faced by Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, and George Russell. However, their SF-23 still shows a relative lack of performance, evident from their poor showing in the previous race at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
As Fred Vasseur continues to establish his vision for Ferrari and strives to bring them back to the forefront of Formula 1, Martin Brundle issues a warning, especially considering the departures of sporting director Laurent Mekies, who will soon join AlphaTauri as team boss, and David Sanchez from their chassis technical design department, further diminishing the Maranello team’s stability.
“He knows which way is up. It has been a revolving door there and he’s got to be careful he doesn’t get caught up in it,” the Sky F1 commentator said at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
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The ex-Formula 1 driver emphasized the importance of Frederic Vasseur recruiting individuals with straightforward personalities, similar to his own, for key roles within the Italian side as they attempt to get back to the top of the sport. However, he acknowledged that this could pose a challenge, considering the appealing opportunities available at teams that do not necessitate relocating to Italy from the UK, where most F1 teams are based in.
“I think he needs four or five more like him, to be honest” – Martin Brundle continued – “You’re trying to attract world-class aerodynamicists and technicians and designers, but Aston Martin ramped up massively and have been hiring. Audi, with Sauber, are hiring. They’re at a premium, these people, and they’re not easy to get hold of and to get out of long-standing, long-term contracts, and then to get them to move to Italy with their family.” – the Sky Sports F1 commentator added.
Despite Ferrari’s customary practice of promoting from within their own structure, which has yet to yield desired outcomes, Martin Brundle remains optimistic that Fred Vasseur’s external appointment will eventually bring rewards to the team, much like when Jean Todt was brought in and successfully shaped the team according to his vision.
“Ferrari has always had a bit of an ecosystem where they’ve largely had the talent they needed. But their real success was with Stefano Domenicali, Jean Todt, Luca di Montezemolo – all there at the same time – Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, Michael Schumacher, that is what you need to win at Ferrari and they don’t have even close to that at the moment.” – the Sky F1 expert concluded.
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