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Vasseur says Ferrari expectations at start of 2023 were too high
Team principal Fred Vasseur takes pride in the way Ferrari battled back after a difficult start to the Formula 1 season, particularly in the wake of preseason expectations that he believes were unrealistic.
Ferrari won two of the first three races in 2022 and was the closest challenger to Red Bull before fading as the year went on, finishing a distant second in the constructors’ championship. Although it had been looking to close the gap further under a new team principal following the departure of Mattia Binotto, Vasseur (pictured at right, above, with Charles Leclerc) says it didn’t take long for Ferrari to realize it wasn’t in a position to regularly fight for wins again.
“For sure, I think the level of expectation was a bit too high at the beginning of the season and we understood quickly the situation,” Vasseur said. “I think after a couple of laps in Bahrain -- and even a couple of laps in the simulator before leaving to go to Bahrain.
“But what I would keep in mind this season is the reaction of the team, that we had tough moments but remember after Jeddah or Miami or Spain or Zandvoort -- Zandvoort is not so long ago and we were almost lapped. I think that we, compared to Zandvoort, collectively made a huge step forward and this is good for the future.”
Vasseur saw encouraging signs from both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at different stages of the season, noting that only Max Verstappen enjoyed a consistent level of performance.
“We had different momentum through the year," he said. "I think it is true that Carlos was very, very strong after the summer break and Charles was flying at the last six or seven events. But overall, I think the dynamic that we added to the team was a good one.
“I don’t think we have to keep in mind the race [in Abu Dhabi] for Carlos because overall, he won in Singapore, and in Monza he did pretty well. So, overall, the season is not one day. Except Max, everybody on the grid has been up and down this season and because it is very tight, sometimes with one-tenth or one-tenth-and-a-half [second's difference] because you like the track or you like the setup of the car on this day, you can move from P2 or P3 to P10 and it is almost a disaster. But we have to stay calm to the approach and it is not that we missed something.”
Presented by:
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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