Fréderic Vasseur and Mattia Binotto. Two men who, in their career, have succeeded in fulfilling their dream of becoming team principal of Ferrari, but currently with completely different stories. The first is the present of the Riding Stable, the one who brought back the enthusiasm that was missing for so long in Maranello and who seems to have found the right way to fight again for the world championship.
The second, team principal from 2019 to 2022, but already in Ferrari since 1994 as an engineer, found himself catapulted into a role that perhaps did not suit him particularly. Binotto has tried in every way to bring the Italian team back on top of the world, especially thanks to the F1-75. That Ferrari was an extremely competitive car in the first part of the season. The team has however paid dearly for some mistakes made by the drivers, choices of strategies, miscommunication and above all the entry into force of the TD39 directive. What exactly has changed since Vasseur joined Ferrari? Have there been any noticeable improvements?
In the first months as team principal it was very difficult to judge Vasseur’s performance because of a not easy situation related to the car. The Frenchman started his adventure at Ferrari on 9 January 2023, when the SF-23 had already been designed by the previous management. The car was very difficult for drivers to drive and uncompetitive. Not only was the Maranello team unable to compete with Red Bull, but in several races it even proved slower than Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin.
During the season there were some improvements and positive aspects. One of them was the victory of Carlos Sainz in Singapore. Vasseur managed to solve several weaknesses of the past: more linear management of the drivers, ability to score as many points as possible throughout the weekend, reliability, more efficient communication, strategies, pit stops and effective car upgrades.
Especially in 2022, when Ferrari seemed to be fighting for the world championship, Binotto failed to achieve the best collective result. Too many communication errors, strategies, ability to keep your nerves during the race, pit stops and more were certainly among the main causes of the dismissal of Binotto, a great engineer but perhaps not yet ready for the role of team principal.
In 2024 the story is different
Vasseur starts the current season with knowledge of the Ferrari environment and being aware that the road to success is still long. Despite this, the Maranello team could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The SF-24 presented itself as a completely opposite car compared to last season. Not brilliant in qualifying, mainly due to several problems in the temperature setting of the tires, but clearly more competitive in race, more stable to drive, easier to develop and excellent in managing tires, the Achilles heel of last year.
The beginning of the season saw a new Ferrari. With one victory and 5 podiums in 4 races (3 from Sainz and 2 from Leclerc), but these are not the only important data. Thanks also to Vasseur, the redhead is back to be not only competitive but also intriguing. It is the proof of the strong will of Hamilton to run for the Italian team from next year, but not only this. The ability to manage to get the maximum points in every weekend, efficient communication that many fans have appreciated and the concrete will to return to the final victory.
It is certainly still early to draw conclusions, but the first 16 months of Vasseur in Ferrari were definitely positive. Hoping that the future can reserve even more magical moments.
