Ralf Schumacher urges Ferrari to give Fred Vassuer more time: "Patience is needed"

Ralf Schumacher urges Ferrari to give Fred Vassuer more time: “Patience is needed”. Ralf Schumacher feels Ferrari team boss Fred Vassuer needs more time to turn things around.

The Brazilian Grand Prix, which took place last weekend at the 4.309-kilometre Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Autódromo de Interlagos or simply Interlagos, was a battle for the “bottom” regarding the second place in the Constructors’ World Championship. Mercedes and Scuderia Ferrari both finished the race in São Paulo with only one car each, namely Carlos Sainz’s SF-23 and Lewis Hamilton’s W14, while Charles Leclerc and George Russell were betrayed by reliability issues (at the moment, the problem that caused the retirement of the SF-23 number 16 has not been officially revealed yet, but we have some initial idea about the issue – click here to read more).

Now, with two races to go in the 2023 Formula One season (Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi), Mercedes enjoys a 20-point lead. Discussing the battle for the second place behind Red Bull, Ralf Schumacher emphasized that both teams had a tough weekend. Furthermore, the German, talking about Ferrari, admitted that patience is required to return to the top, taking the example of his brother Michael, who had to wait for a competitive car and a prominent team before starting to win.

“Mercedes’ weakness was actually an opportunity for Ferrari in the fight for the second place in the Constructors’ Championship,” Ralf Schumacher wrote in a post-Brazilian Grand Prix analysis on the Sky Germany website, “But Ferrari also did not have a good weekend.” Completing his thoughts on the Scuderia, the German pointed out that Team Principal Fred Vasseur needs more time to be able to turn things around in Maranello:

“Ferrari has always been a bit of a troublesome child. Fred Vasseur cannot turn the entire team upside down in six or seven months. It took some years for Michael, Ross Brawn, and Jean Todt as well. Patience is needed at Ferrari” – the former Formula 1 driver concluded, as reported by the the Sky Germany website.