Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur has adapted to life at the Scuderia, having taken charge of the team for the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Vasseur succeeded Mattia Binotto as Ferrari team boss for 2023, following Binotto’s resignation after the team’s title collapse in 2022.
The former Alfa Romeo boss started working at Maranello this month, integrating into the team and attending Ferrari’s ‘wake-up’ test at Fiorano where drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz got rid of their winter cobwebs beating a 2021 SF21 around Fiorano.
Earlier this week, Vasseur held his first press conference as Ferrari team boss where he revealed the early challenges he faces as he adjusts to life as boss of the most illustrious Formula 1 team.
“So far so good,” he told Ferrari’s official website.
“It’s quite intense as you can imagine, as we had very short notice between early January and the first track tests.
“I have to upgrade and get the job done, but so far so good.”
Fred Vasseur: The atmosphere and the energy are positive at Ferrari
Moving on from the Alfa Romeo team he has been in charge of since mid-2017, Vasseur said the most critical aspect of his first few weeks in his new role was getting to know as many people as possible – a challenge. size given the short winter break before the resumption of F1 activities.
“The most important [thing] for me, the first two weeks is about getting to know people,” he said.
“I think it’s very important in my job to know as many people as possible, to have a one-on-one with them, and above all to talk to them about themselves and myself and to discuss organisation.
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“I want to know the individual. I’ve already done a lot of things, but there are still guys to meet. I think everyone is very focused, very committed, we know it’s the new season, the same story, we can’t wait for the launch of the car and the first test we know between the launch and the first test it will be very compressed this season.
“We have to be ready from day one, and the mood is positive, the energy is there and we are all very focused.”
Fred Vasseur: It’s important to understand the drivers
Vasseur also has to deal with very different driver dynamics during his time at Ferrari. While the driver duo he was dealing with, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, have a cooperative mentor/student type relationship and are unlikely to challenge for positions beyond top midfield with their current machines, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc have a friendly but strained relationship due to their mutual desire to lead Ferrari to victories and the title.
Vasseur has worked closely with Leclerc before, as the Monegasque made his F1 debut with the team in 2018, but Vasseur said he already knows both drivers to the point of understanding how to handle them – the boss of the The team has already said it has no intentions of defining driver roles for Sainz or Leclerc to start 2023.
“We had a really long conversation after the announcement, and I know them both pretty well,” he said.
“It was important for me to understand their mood, their feelings and what they thought of last season, that we have the advantage and I have the advantage today that we keep the same composition.
“I think for me it’s also much easier to understand exactly the situation. As I know them both quite well, the integration was also much faster.