Ferrari chairman John Elkann has recently explained why current team principal Fred Vasseur is better than his predecessor, Mattia Binotto. While speaking to the BBC, Elkann lauded Vasseur’s leadership and pointed out two traits that Binotto did not have.
During the Las Vegas GP weekend, Elkann said, “On one side he [Vassuer] brings a culture of responsibility and accountability. He also knows and has operated in organizations that are smaller, more effective, and nimbler, and that is definitely something we were lacking compared to our stronger competitors“.
Ever since Vasseur took over the leadership at Ferrari at the start of this year, the strategic mistakes of the team have reduced significantly. Moreover, under the Frenchman’s leadership, there has also been a significant improvement in reliability issues. However, when it came to how the team performed under Binotto, there were serious criticisms in both these areas.
How much did Ferrari improve under Fred Vassuer’s leadership?
Under Fred Vasseur’s leadership, Ferrari has experienced a significant resurgence this year. Although the team are not fighting for the championship, they have maximized their package.
It is also this reason why Ferrari are the only team to beat Red Bull this season when Carlos Sainz won in Singapore. Furthermore, Charles Leclerc also had a chance to win the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix last weekend if it were not for the bad timing of the second safety car.
That is not it, as Ferrari have also witnessed an improvement in the single-lap race performance of the SF23. The team have narrowed the gap with Red Bull in this area in the latter half of the season.
Compared to the first half, when Ferrari was 0.275 seconds slower than Red Bull, they now outpace Red Bull by 0.027 seconds. These are the reasons why Ferrari chairman John Elkann is happy with the way the team is moving under Vasseur’s leadership.
