Ferrari: the Vasseur era, year IV
Since the beginning of 2023 Frederic Vasseur has taken on the role of team principal of Ferrari. Certainly the most complex job on the entire starting grid, both because of the long world championship drought of the Red, and because of the pressures that the prancing horse on the chest entails. Ferrari fans have learned to know the French manager over these years, who always tries to shield his team, to protect it from rumors and gossip that could sow insecurity and cause poor performance.
Vasseur has achieved only 6 wins with Ferrari and fans can’t wait to see a turning point that never seems to come, but is often hinted at by his words in interviews.
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Vasseur in fact spoke of a “gamechanger” (turning point, ed.) in the directive on flexible front wings in 2025. And then it wasn’t so. Later he explained that he had decided to stop aero developments very early last year to focus everything on the 2026 regulations. And the start was not spectacular. Then he spoke of the ‘one and a half package’ of updates for Miami. Which do not seem to have given a decisive boost to the SF-26. Now Vasseur is building anticipation for the ADUO…
FormulaPassion.it wanted to prod Pino Allievi (prestigious motorsport writer and contributor to our publication) and Francesco Cigarini (at Maranello for over 20 years and present on Instagram and YouTube): how do you judge Frederic Vasseur’s communication choices? Should the team principal be more self-critical?
Pino Allievi: “Vasseur tells hidden truths through vague and misleading speeches”
“I don’t know of team principals endowed with self-critical honesty, except Andrea Stella and, in some cases, Toto Wolff. That said, Vasseur sometimes tells hidden truths through vague and misleading speeches, later denied by the drivers. I’ll give an example: Hamilton’s harsh criticisms about the lack of correlation between simulation data and track data is an important and ruthless analysis that Vasseur should have made. Was there a hidden message in Hamilton’s words? Who knows… I wouldn’t want Ferrari to fall into the trap of pre-made alibis, already thinking about tomorrow. That would be suicide. Ferrari must think about the present, the next races, the ongoing championship which is still wide open. Woe to turning the page to dedicate oneself to a hypothetical, intangible, distant tomorrow.”
Francesco Cigarini: “The team principal can be self-critical even without telling the media”
“The team principal carries the voice and shares the judgment of the technical leadership of his team. So it is his point of view also fueled by what happens on track and opinions with his front lines.
In some cases the TP protects the team even at the cost of receiving criticism for the way he defends it, but he does it to relieve pressure on the technical and operational area, on track and in Maranello.
Self-criticism can exist even if it is not exposed to the media, but the lack of wins exponentially fuels the number of detractors as well as the desire to see the Red win again.”
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We also invite you readers to tell us your opinion – within the 200-character limit in comments (I have personally reported complaints, be lenient…) -: how do you evaluate the communication held by Frederic Vasseur over these years?
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