5 things Frederic Vasseur needs to change at Ferrari

Frederic Vasseur has been confirmed as Mattia Binotto’s replacement as team boss of Ferrari after the Italian confirmed his resignation in late November.

Ultimately, Binotto believed he’d failed in the role after missing out on both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship in 2022 despite having a car capable of winning.

Ferrari have turned to Vasseur to alter their fortunes, with the Swiss arriving from Alfa Romeo, where he was team principal for five years.

So, what are five things Vasseur needs to change at Ferrari?

Fix the Strategy:

2022 was a year that held so much promise for the Scuderia, but multiple strategical errors cost both Carlos Sainz and most notably Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver should’ve won at both Monaco and Silverstone but finished P4 in both races due to awful strategy calls from Ferrari.

If Vasseur is to succeed at the Prancing Horses then he needs to fix the strategy, whether that be personnel or their approach. Something has got to give.

Fix the Reliability:

Next on the agenda has got to be the reliability of the car. Alfa Romeo, especially Zhou Guanyu, suffered several reliability DNFs in 2022 so Vasseur will have the chance to change something himself because the Ferrari engine cost his team last year and he won’t want that to happen again.

Think back to Austria when Sainz’s car started flaming or the multiple issues that cost Ferrari points throughout the year. Red Bull looked like the team with reliability issues after the opening few rounds, but Ferrari quickly took that unwanted crown. Vasseur must change that if Ferrari want to win in 2023.

Lower the Pressure:

Ferrari are the most successful team in F1 and they act like it, which puts so much pressure on their drivers to perform, especially when someone like Michael Schumacher experienced so much success in the same team.

Driver errors were also prevalent in 2022, which didn’t happen with Max Verstappen, so Ferrari must improve on that basis. Perhaps by lowering the pressure on Leclerc and Sainz they’ll regain their confidence and Vasseur may be able to extract the maximum potential from them both.

Race Pace:

Ferrari were on pole position 12 times in 2022 but won just four races all season. That isn’t good enough and must change under Vasseur. It’s all well and good performing on a Saturday, but the Grand Prix on a Sunday is what matters most and Red Bull hit the nail on the end this year, something Ferrari could learn a thing or two from.

If it means sacrificing some qualifying pace for improved race pace then it’s a sacrifice worth making.

Reflection:

Vasseur must make Ferrari better at realising their mistakes and fixing them early. Far too often in 2022, Ferrari made errors in one facet of the sport but didn’t learn from it. Mercedes were great at learning from mistakes during their dominance in the turbo-hybrid era and Ferrari must replicate that under Vasseur.

It won’t be an easy job, but Vasseur has impressed at the Sauber team and appears ready for a bigger challenge. However, only time will tell if his appointment was the correct one.