Ferrari chasing Red Bull? 'The expectation level was too high'

Ferrari were a hair's breadth away from finishing second in the constructors' championship again. In terms of finances, place two would have been a windfall, although the Italian team's ambitions extend beyond that. After 2022, there were cautious hopes that Ferrari could connect with Red Bull Racing last season. Prior to the year, there was even talk of a world title in the Italian press. So that fell foul.

"I think the level of expectation was a bit too high at the beginning of the season," Fred Vasseur, Ferrari's team boss, looks back with GPblog and others. "We understood quickly the situation, I think, after a couple of laps in Bahrain, and even a couple of laps on the simulator before we went to Bahrain. But what I would keep in mind this season is the reaction of the team. We had a tough moment after Jeddah, Miami, Spain or Zandvoort. Zandvoort is not so far away, and we were almost lapped. Collectively, we had a huge step forward, and this is good for the future. It's that on this progression that we're looking to build up next year."

Vasseur happy with work ethic at Ferrari

By the 'progression' made, Vasseur is not so much referring to catching up with Red Bull, but the way his team works. "The performance is coming from everywhere in the company. The fact that we are able to produce parts quicker or the fact that we have better reliability. We gave up too many points this season for different reasons. For reliability, for disqualification in our team, for impeding in quali. This is clearly where we have to work."

However, the team boss wants more: "And we have to improve on aero, on the engine, on every single topic. And it's not that we have something wrong and something good, and you fix something, and you are making a step for five-tenths or four-tenths. The most important is that the 1,000 people that we have are convinced that they are all a performance contributor and they are all trying to push the limit."

Satisfaction with team boss Ferrari

All in all, Vasseur is "more than satisfied". "Because between Zandvoort and today, we didn't change the car massively. We had an upgrade in Japan, I think. But basically we kept the same car and we were able to do a much better job. It means a better understanding of the car, better setup of the car, and a better approach from the drivers. And so it means that we have room for improvement everywhere. And this feeling is a good one to build up something for next year.