New Ferrari boss’ job is to keep Charles Leclerc sweet - and stop him going to Mercedes
F1's silly season for team principals hit another gear on Tuesday morning as 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Ferrari confirmed Vasseur as their new boss, replacing♏ Mattia Binotto from next month.
It’s only been a matter of time with Vasseur top of Ferrari’s shortlist after༒ unsuccessful swoops for Christian Horner of Red Bull and McLaren’s Andreas Seidl.
The role of Ferrari team principal is arguably the biggest iꦚn motorsport, given their enormous stature and prestige, but also the pressure that comes with it from an entire nation in Italy.
As team boss Vasseur will have to tackle a number of key areas if they are to mount a serious title challenge in the coming years, thus ending their championship win dꦏrought stretching back to 2007.
His straight-talking, impressive man management skills should serve him well, especially if he gets the power and opportunity to make 🧜changes by Ferrari chairman John Elkann.
One notable point about this move is Vasseur’s prior relationship with Lecler♊c.
The pair worked together during Leclerc’s championship winning year with ART Grand Prix in GP3 ꦰSeries (now known as FIA Formula 3).
Vasseur was Leclerc’s team boss at Sauber in 2018 - his impressive roo൲kie year iౠn F1, which ultimately earned him the Ferrari drive in place of Kimi Raikkonen for 2019.
While Leclerc was ♔quick to point out during the FIA’s Prize Giving Gala on Friday that he had no influence on Ferrari’s decision over their💜 new team principal, it’s unrealistic to think that their top management wouldn’t have consulted the Leclerc camp to get their seal of approval.
In theory, the signing of Vasseur should on༒ly strengthen Leclerc’s position in the team given their close relationship.
Leclerc would have seen 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton build Mercedes around him, similarly with 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen at Red🐼 Bull in recent years, having Vasseur on side will be c🐟rucial in achieving that.
On-track performance ultimately dictates a hierarchy in a team, however, with there being mumurings that Ferrari’s development direction wasn’t entirely in Leclerc’s favour with the car moving from an oversteer to more understeer philosophy in the second half of 2022 - potentially allowing 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Carlos Sainz to reduce the performance deficit♍ in the final dozen races - Leclerc will be need Vasseur’s support to ensure the car is giving him what he wants.
Red Bull ens✤ure their car is as suited to Verstappen as possible, so Ferrari should do the same with Leclerꦕc.
As we saw in the opening six races, the RB18 was incredibly overweight and suffered with a chronic amount of understeer, ultimately hampering Verstappen while aiding teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Sergio Perez.
Th♛is soon changed from Canada onwards with Red Bull’s notoriously pointy front-end returning, allowing Verstappen to return to his blistering best in all conditions, but having the opposite effect on Perez.
While it is debatable how much influence a driver can have on development direction, Ferrari need to build a Red Bജull🉐 beater and building a car to Leclerc’s strengths is part of that process.
Leclerc꧋ is out of contract at the end of 2024, and🌱 the signing of Vasseur could be seen as one to sweeten their star driver to sign a new deal.
With Mercedes likely needing a replacement for Hamilton in the next two to three years and Ferrariܫ failing to deliver a title-winning car to Leclerc, he could be tempted in a move to Brackley in pursuit of championship success.
Vasseur has a mammoth job on his hands to ꦍtake the team forward.
Leclerc should only benefit fওrom Vasꦡseur’s arrival, but will it be enough to keep him at Ferrari long term if the same failings rear their head again in the years to come?
With a sharp eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbi♉ased reporting.
