Ferrari enjoyed a fantastic start in 2022 and was considered favorites to win their first title in 16 years with Charles Leclerc. However, the team threw the championship open due to their poor reliability and strategy calls.
The Scuderia sacked their former team principal Mattia Binotto for Alfa Romeo’s Fred Vasseur. Vasseur was supposed to improve the Prancing Horse’s title ambitions, but nothing has changed so far.
Ridiculous errors and reliability issues still plague the team and they are yet to achieve a race victory. So questions will be asked whether Ferrari’s Vasseur experiment has failed or if is there some hope for the future.
Ralf Schumacher claims Fred Vasseur is looking lost after a dismal start
After 6 races of the 2023 season, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are far away from their previous year’s standings. Moreover, Ferrari is plagued by the same issues that cost them the title. But F1 pundit Ralf Schumacher claims team boss Fred Vasseur is clueless about the root cause of the problem.
Schumacher told Sky F1, “Team boss Fred Vasseur seemed at a loss to me. When I asked him how long it would take for Ferrari to catch up to the top, his answer was: ‘First we have to identify the problem, then we can say how long it will take’.”
The same words were repeated by Leclerc who was knocked out of Spanish GP’s qualifying in Q1. However, the Monagesque believes the team is doing something wrong with their tires.
Schumacher added, “They don’t really know what’s causing it, they’ve had the problem of tires degrading too quickly for a year now, and apart from qualifying they were just too slow in Barcelona.”
Leclerc retired from the opening race of the season in Bahrain and later in Melbourne. In the coming races, the team made blunders on tire choices with both drivers showing their frustration on the radio. This has raised questions about whether the Italian team is yet to plug the issues they suffered in 2022.
Can Ferrari improve in 2024?
However, Ralf Schumacher stated that it’s too soon for Ferrari to change team principal Fred Vasseur. Schumacher claims Vasseur needs more time to adjust to his new role and understand the team’s shortfalls.
He shared, “Ferrari still has a rocky road ahead of them. Vasseur has only been in office for a few months, it just takes time and you have to give him that. He’s in the process of bringing some new people into the team.”
Key personnel such as David Sanchez and Laurent Mekies, who worked under Mattia Binotto, are on their way out. While the Frenchman is also planning on rebuilding his team by poaching talents from rivals. The incoming talent could help Vassuer rebuild the team for a fresh challenge in 2024.
The German former F1 driver also claims it’s wise for Ferrari to focus on next year’s championship. The Scuderia can take the lessons from the current season and start early in the development of their 2024 car.
Schumacher added, “It may be a while before they all start to work and this work bears fruit. It is quite possible that Ferrari can tick off this season and also at the beginning of the coming year.”
Ferrri’s loyal Tifosi have been waiting since 2007 for their next world champion. The team’s performance in 2022 gave the fans a ray of hope. However, it won’t take time for the sentiments to flip against Vassuer.
