A veteran F1 team boss has commended Fred Vasseur’s attitude to his first year as Scuderia Ferrari’s president.
Vasseur took lead Ferrari’s Formula One team in January 2023, succeeding Mattia Binotto, who was fired after a disappointing 2022 season.
The former Alfa Romeo/Sauber team head had to take over a squad that had built a reputation for a lack of strategic clarity, and veteran F1 team founder Giancarlo Minardi has appraised Vasseur’s progress over the last year.
Giancarlo Minardi: Now comes the good stuff.
Minardi was asked to evaluate Vasseur’s first year in command of the Gestione Sportiva in an interview with Italy’s Gazzetto dello Sport, and Minardi stated that Vasseur’s hiring of more people during 2023 was a necessary step.
“He discovered that everything had been completed. “The good stuff is coming soon,” he remarked.
“Everyone tells me, and Fred himself has said, that major investments have been made in terms of men and manpower, so we’ll see what and how many grafts will come in.”
Minardi stated that after numerous years of the same personnel doing the same roles with varied degrees of performance, it was time for Vasseur to closely analyse his new team and compare it to what top organisations such as Red Bull and Mercedes were doing.
“Inevitable operations, given that we come from a certain immobility,” Minardi told reporters.
“And that the machine has been made for years by the same people.”
“It was time to perceive, comprehend, and learn from what others were doing.” That is the case.
Minardi believes that with Ferrari finishing 2024 in respectable fashion, appearing much more cohesive and forward-facing with some upward momentum despite finishing second in the Constructors’ Championship, the stable regulations into 2024 are a sign of encouragement that next year could be strong for Ferrari.
‘Ferrari has had an up-and-down performance on a technical level, with some troubling moments in the summer,’ he remarked.
“However, finishing on an upward trend is a good sign for 2024.”
“Exactly because of the stability of the regulations, that will be decisive.”
