Scuderia Ferrari 2023

Interesting to see what Vasseur is doing or not and how he sounds. He sounds alot like Binotto. I have no real idea why they changed to Vasseur. None. Yes we have no real internal insights but on the surface Vasseur could endure the same fate and faster at that. Binotto was inclined not to release people and be obsessed with blame but to refine process and procedures to improve. Subtle changes etc. The approach of Vasseur is similar it appears. As with many situations time will tell.

Why Vasseur isn't wielding the axe on Ferrari's F1 strategy team
As Ferrari reflected on the lost opportunities of the 2022 Formula 1 season, it did not take a genius to understand that strategy had been one of its core weaknesses.


By: Jonathan Noble
Jan 27, 2023, 5:49 PM
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From the high-profile errors that derailed its bid for victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, to questions over not pitting Charles Leclerc late on at Silverstone, to the bizarre intermediate tyre qualifying gamble in Brazil, it was a recurring theme throughout the campaign.

While the mistakes prompted some to suggest that Ferrari needed to be harsh and replace its strategy chiefs, then team principal Mattia Binotto was more sanguine about matters.

He felt that Ferrari's strategy errors were overplayed at times, especially with the way that F1's own international television feed often focused more on the Prancing Horse's pitwall conversations than other teams.

Plus, he felt that the mistakes made were never strictly the fault of the top strategy chief making bad calls, as the decisions could only ever be as good as the information they had available at the time.

So, for example, a lack of clear data about the slick tyre delta in Monaco, or a calmness on the pitwall about changeable weather at Interlagos, were all equally as much to blame.

Binotto's conviction in the strategy team flew in the face of an ongoing belief many had about the need to change something if Ferrari was not going to squander the kind of opportunities it had last year.

So with new Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur brought on board to help give Maranello the push it needs to gun for the title, it is obvious that strategy will be one of his key areas of focus.

But while there were some early suggestions that Vasseur could wield the axe on his current pitwall crew and start afresh with new personnel, his actual approach appears to be very different. Similar to Binotto, Vasseur believes it would be wrong to view strategy errors as wholly the fault of a single individual.

Instead, he reckons that there are deeper factors at play behind what went wrong at Ferrari last season, and that mistakes on the strategy front are often the culmination of infrastructure problems.

So while he admits that discussions are ongoing to better understand how things can be improved, the solution for Ferrari probably revolves more around better processes than a change of personnel.

"When you are speaking about strategy or aerodynamics or another topic, you have to avoid being just focused on the top of the pyramid," explained Vasseur when asked by Autosport what changes he planned to make for the start of the season.

"Very often, when you are speaking about strategy, it's much more a matter of organisation than just the guy who is on the pitwall.

"I'm trying to understand exactly what's happened on every single mistake and what's happened last year. And to try to know if it's a matter of decision, if it's a matter of organisation, or of communication?"

One possibility, Vasseur says, is that Ferrari's lines of communication were too complicated, and involved too many opinions.

"Very often on the pitwall, the biggest issue is more the communication and the number of people involved than the individuals," he added. "If you put too many people discussing about the same things, when you will have the outcome of the discussion, the car will be on the next lap.

"You just need to have a clear flow of discussion and clear flow of communication between the good people at the right position for sure. But it's a work in progress."

Vasseur's stance on the strategy front is in line with his approach to the rest of the team, with him clear that it would be wrong of him to come in and change the technical structure too quickly.

"It will be arrogant on my side to take action on the technical organisation after two weeks," he said. "We have discussions to try to understand how we could improve the system, what could be the weakness of the system and try to do a better job.

"It's more a continuous improvement than a big step or big changes that, from my point of view, wouldn't make sense.

"I trust the guys in place, and that I will try to do the best for them also, to put them in the best condition to do the job. It will be time after a couple of weeks or months to take action if it's not working. But I trust them."

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-vasseur-isnt-wielding-the-axe-on-ferraris-strategy-team/10425151/

 

Maybe we read different articles, to me he doesn't sound anything like Binotto. I mean already from the first interviews I can give you a list:

- The aim is the Championships nothing less. Already a huge difference in attitude, Binotto just aimed for a few wins and "learning".

- Even though Vasseur told there is no designated number 1 and 2 driver; this could well just be media front and keeping Sainz motivated. But he was very clear about not being afraid to choose a driver to support for WDC if the situation presents itself. Binotto never did that, and that was one of the reasons he got the boot.

- Vasseur has been on the job only little over 2 weeks, he is not gonna fire people the moment he steps in the factory. In the article you linked, he said he wants to see what people can do, and after like month he can make decisions; that doesn't sound too subtle to me. After a month or two after new boss comes in you could get canned; doesn't sound like Binotto's management at all!

- Unlike Binotto he already is aware there are problems with strategy; and he even pointed out the problem, too many chefs in the kitchen when deciding strategy! You can't have a 10 people coffee meeting about what to do during a race. It was so clear last year on some instances that there was multiple things yelled at the pit crews ears; that's why the wrong tire compound circus with Charles. I agree 100% with Fred, it is mainly communication problem.

I see Vasseur as a way more cut-throat TP than Mattia ever was.

 

Bash. I disagree somewhat with Binotto being gone. I like Ferrari. One can disagree with a team decision for a team they like. That not an unusual circumstance. I didnt bash because I hate. I didnt bash. Find a better word. My post was not caustic or harsh. If Vasseur does improve so be it. That is certainly a possibility. He is French and most likely you take this way toooooooooooooooooooo personally. I could care less what his nationality is. Results matter not the flag.

 

Good to hear this --

Binotto praised for helping Vasseur’s Ferrari F1 handover
Former Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Mattia Binotto has been praised by replacement Fred Vasseur for helping talk him through their handover.

 

Spot on !!!

 

Its interesting the speculation now about Charles. i can see Carlos to Mercedes, assumes George is strong as he has been. Not sure Id see Charles over to Mercedes.

https://f1i.com/news/464848-vasseur-leclerc-contract-talks-not-a-priority-for-ferrari.html

Ferrari boss Frédéric Vasseur says he has not given priority status to contract talks with Charles Leclerc, insisting there is ample time to address the matter.

Both Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz will see their contract with the Scuderia expire at the end of 2024. But speculation regarding the Monegasque's future is already in full swing.

Many believe that if Ferrari isn't able to take the title fight down to the wire this season, a frustrated Leclerc could take a keen interest in Mercedes.

Team boss Toto Wolff is likely to earmark the Ferrari driver as a potential successor to Lewis Hamilton should the seven-time world champion decide to call it a day on his career in F1 at the end of 2025, or before.

However, Vasseur has made clear that driver contracts are not at the forefront of Ferrari's current concerns.

"I know both drivers quite well, and I think we still have some time before we start talking about the future," said the new Scuderia boss last week.

"For me today this is not the number one priority.

"We have to start the season very well then there will be time for the rest, I think it would be a mistake to start negotiations at a time when the priority is another one."

 

Great, now make Ruth his strategist.

 

Binotto was somewhat aligned with Mercedes and it appears this continues with Vasseur -

Vasseur: Friendship with Wolff no harm to Ferrari F1 ambitions
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur sees no downside to the good relationship he has with Mercedes Formula 1 rival Toto Wolff.

 

New car will be called SF-23:

Maranello 07 February 2023
Scuderia Ferrari’s 2023 car, which will be launched in exactly one week’s time, will go by the name of SF-23.

The team thus returns to the naming format used throughout Formula 1’s hybrid era, since the 2015 SF15-T, with the exception of last season’s F1-75. The SF stands for Scuderia Ferrari and 23 is obviously the year.

This is the eighth Scuderia Ferrari car to be designated SF and the fourth time that it also references the current year. In 2017 and 2018, the SF70H and SF71H celebrated the years since the Ferrari company was founded and in 2019, SF90 reflected the years since the Scuderia was established. The 2020 car was called SF1000 as the team celebrated its 1000th Grand Prix appearance that season.

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Was a fun event to see today!! Well done!

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/sainz-ferrari-was-brave-to-run-2023-f1-car-at-public-launch-event/10432153/

Sainz: Ferrari was "brave" to run 2023 F1 car at public launch event
Carlos Sainz says Ferrari was “brave” to hold a large-scale, public launch for its 2023 Formula 1 car – especially including its first installation laps as part of the event.


By: Alex Kalinauckas
Co-author: Roberto Chinchero
Feb 14, 2023, 5:44 PM
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The Italian team took the covers off its SF-23 challenger at its Fiorano track on Tuesday as part of a launch occasion that was open to invited media and a grandstand full of Ferrari fans.

After a short series of interviews with Sainz, his teammate Charles Leclerc and new team principal Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari completed the SF-23’s initial laps – with Leclerc driving for two tours before handing over to Sainz.

Although the runs were very short and had to be completed on demonstration Pirelli tyres with the drivers unable to fully push, such a move was still a risk to conduct in public given the early stages of preparations for the coming campaign and the possibility of an early reliability issue – not uncommon on F1 cars not long built – occurring.

But it stood at odds with 2023 launch events conducted by other F1 squads – some of which, such as Red Bull’s season launch, did not even feature 2023 cars on display.

“I think it was honestly amazing,” Sainz said of his first experience of the SF-23.

“And I think as Ferrari, today I’m going to allow myself to give a bit of praise to the team and what they organised because I think [it] factor in their influence today.

“I think Formula 1 needs these kinds of events nowadays, these kind of presentations where you bring all the media, to bring the fans, to bring our partners, to bring the engineers that are involved in the project, you bring the mechanics that have been working on the car for the last couple of months – you join them all together and you do a proper presentation with the car running.

“Where you see the actual Formula 1 car running without too much privacy, [all] enjoying the nature of Formula 1.

“And I think we were brave as a team to do it because it’s the first ever installation lap that we did with that car and it can always go bad.

“But we took the risk just to do something a bit different and I hope that you guys enjoyed it – because I definitely did and it was a very good day for the team, for Ferrari and F1."

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When asked if he felt it had been a positive off-season for Ferrari after its ultimately disappointing 2022 campaign, Sainz again moved to praise its extensive public launch.

Read Also:

• Leclerc: New Ferrari F1 car "feels good" after filming day run
• Ferrari planning ‘small adjustments’ to F1 strategy processes for 2023
• Ferrari focused on car-balance weaknesses with SF-23 F1 car

“Yeah, the first thing that I’m positive about is everything that we did today, nothing went wrong, everything went perfect,” he explained.

“It’s actually, as I said before, relatively high risk to put a brand new F1 car on track in front of so many people and to actually get to enjoy it without any single problem on track – normally in these installation laps there’s always different issues here and there and today the car was running smoothly.

“I could actually push a bit on it and lean a bit in the car in the corners and feel the first things. And we’ve already given some feedback to the engineers to work on for tomorrow.

“Tomorrow we have the famous 100km [filming day permitted in F1’s rules] where will continue to do the build up to Bahrain.

“Obviously, until Bahrain we will not know how the car is performing and how the car is handling, but at least we’ve already covered some nice steps in the right direction.”

 

I think Ferrari really put it all out there today. Took some balls to run it like that. Very nice show, not to much corporate crap and very little distraction.

 

I agree. I watched the AMR launch yesterday and the body language there was completely the opposite with a lot of tension. Ferrari did a great launch event today for their 2023 car. I am hearing a few people say that under Vasseur we may see an era like Montezemolo. About time for a come back in F1 for Ferrari.

https://sfcriga.com/luca-cordero-di-montezemolo-the-ferrari-golden-boy

 

Agreed, Ferrari has been saying this since 2017.

 

We can all guess now...but in a week we will actually know what the new season might look like.

 

Yup, but that damned fragile green shoot of hope is making it’s regular pre-season appearance….

 

We don't know what we don't know. Let's take it one race at a time. There is hope with new leadership.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/mark-blundell-fred-vasseur-pedigree-ferrari-different-challenge/

 

Agreed...Ferrari has the money, facilities, drivers...all the ingredients.

I can stand in Gordon Ramsey's kitchen right now, full access to all the tools, produce, the lot, recipes... but doesn't mean I can produce the same meal he does.

 

I just want a competent season from Ferrari. If they're not the fastest, so be it. But the operational side should be fixed this year. I do expect issues, but I also expect Fred to formulate and execute a plan this year to fix it.

 

I don't think that makes any difference.
They have their own responsabilities, and don't run the Scuderia.
Vasseur is.