Why Vasseur relishes 'feeling the pressure' as Ferrari's F1 boss

Many people would view putting on the Ferrari uniform as the marque’s Formula 1 team principal as a peak moment in their career. But, for newly appointed boss Fred Vasseur, his mindset is very different. As a man who has battled since the junior categories for racing victory, his target was never just to have a Prancing Horse logo on his chest. He wants to be up there on the podium with it as a winner.

This week, having had a fortnight to get his feet under the desk at Maranello, Vasseur spoke to the media for the first time about what he had found and what he expected. For those of us who have known Vasseur for a long time, he was both exactly the same man as he has always been but equally there were some differences.

The biggest change, of course, comes with the scrutiny. He knows full well that the pressures, intensity and focus on him will be greater in what he does at Ferrari than at any step he has had along the way. But he’s well prepared for that.

And whereas some may have baulked at walking into a potential cauldron of politics at Ferrari, Vasseur says he is far from scared about what is to come.

“Scary… I don't think that's the right word,” he says. “When you decide to take on a challenge of this magnitude, you are aware that you are exposing yourself, and in some respects you are also exposing your family. But if you play tennis, you want to win Wimbledon. If you work in motorsport, you want to win with Ferrari.”

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Mistakes from Ferrari and Charles Leclerc in 2022 cost them both a shot at the F1 titles

Photo by: Ferrari

What is clear is that the added pressures have not served to dampen his personality, nor his humour. Throughout our chat he was his usual jovial self, laughing at journalists who fumbled questions or couldn’t get their microphones on in time. He also had a quirky response to what similarities he saw between himself and Ferrari’s other previous French team boss, Jean Todt. “After the nationality, you have the size, perhaps!” he smiles.

As well as the cheeky laughter remaining, so too is Vasseur’s steely determination to get the job done. He is not approaching things with the belief that he knows exactly what went wrong last year, nor what needs to be done now to fix things for the future.

There is no pre-ordained plan, for he fully understands that, all too often in motor racing, what people think goes on inside a team is very different to what actually occurs.

“I will never be arrogant and have the arrogance to make any judgement of what happened in the past” Fred Vasseur

“It’s quite difficult to have a clear opinion of what’s happened to the team when you’re on the outside, trust me,” he explains when asked about the Ferrari culture.

It’s why he doesn’t want to jump to conclusions about what went wrong in 2022 or before.

“I will never be arrogant and have the arrogance to make any judgement of what happened in the past,” he says, shifting to a more senior tone. “The most difficult part of the job is to understand what happened in your team, to be able to have a clear analysis and to take action. Trust me, it’s already quite a difficult challenge, and I will never do the analysis for the others.”

Vasseur has spent time integrating himself into Ferrari and "meet as many people as possible"

Photo by: Ferrari

It is why Vasseur, who said his first task as team boss was to start Italian lessons, has spent a fortnight speaking to people to try to understand the ins and outs of Maranello; what makes it tick, how people communicate, and where potential pitfalls could lie.

Asked for his first impressions, he says: “The first goal is to meet as many people as possible to understand many aspects. I think there is a lot of potential but I know that every team is mainly based on human relationships. I've already talked face-to-face with 30 or 35 people. I want to get to know them, and this was the job that took me the most in my first two weeks. I can say that the feeling so far is great, the mood is positive.”

He has also shown himself not to be afraid to call on those who have already been through the Maranello corridors. Vasseur has heaped praise on his predecessor Mattia Binotto for having been open and helping offer advice when they chatted in the days after their transition was confirmed. He also dismissed talk of him being slotted in to place before Binotto resigned in the days after the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

“The process was crystal clear. Even if we had some rumours into the press during Abu Dhabi [grand prix week], we didn't discuss before,” he clarifies. “We had the first discussion the week after Abu Dhabi and it was very, very quick as a process.

“Then I had a call with Mattia, and I even met Mattia during the handover. We had a one-to-one discussion. And it was thanks to Mattia for this, because I appreciated the move to stay, to wait for me, to discuss together. It was really appreciated from my side.”

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Vasseur was thankful for the support from ex-Ferrari team principal, Mattia Binotto

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Vasseur plans to have a long chat with Todt soon too and the relationship with Ferrari’s senior chiefs, chairman John Elkann and CEO Benedetto Vigna, appears strong from the off.

“I have a very, very direct relationship with Benedetto. I have dinner [with him] two or three times a week, and on the phone every single day. We have a direct collaboration, so it will work,” says Vasseur.

His approach for the next weeks, and even months, is clear. There will not be a move to sweep a broom through Maranello and make drastic changes, either at the factory or to the race team.

Indeed, with the car and power unit work almost completed, and the Bahrain test just a few weeks ago, it would be foolish to rip everything up and start again right now. Instead, Vasseur thinks the best chance to make progress, and iron out the dramas of 2022, is to get the team gelling together and become the best of what it can be.

"You have to feel the pressure. If you don't feel it, you've got the wrong job. It's a part of this world” Fred Vasseur 

“One of the most complex challenges for any single team in F1, not just for Ferrari, is being able to count on good co-operation between all the people who make up the team,” he says. “My job in the first few weeks will be to make sure everyone is pushing in the same direction.

“I think that externally everyone is convinced that F1 is a simple environment, but the reality is different. If you want to work with someone, they'll be up and running in 18 or 24 months, and they'll be working on next year's car.

“The impact that a new signing, who joins the team today, can have is quite low. That's why I'm talking about team spirit and motivation. On this front things can change more quickly. It will be my first task to try to provide that extra motivation to put people in the best possible conditions to do their job.”

There are going to be challenging times ahead, and likely lows as well as highs. But there is nothing that Vasseur says keeps him awake at night.

“I sleep very well, but you have to feel the pressure,” he explains. “If you don't feel it, you've got the wrong job. It's a part of this world.”

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Photo by: Ferrari