F1 News: What can Fred Vasseur bring to Ferrari for the 2023 season?
Fred Vasseur's appointment as Ferrari Team Principal marks a significant step forward for the Italian squad, which remains eager to rectify its mistakes from 2022.
Ferrari's F1-75 was more than capable of fighting against Red bull for the championship, but a variety of weaknesses prevented the team from sustaining a title challenge.
Maranello has not seen an F1 Championship for over a decade, so Fred Vasseur will be expected to change this ever-increasing fry spell.
One of the Frenchman's biggest challenges will be to reverse Ferrari's approach to failure under Mattia Binotto, which often consisted of downplaying responsibility for mistakes.
Vasseur has given some of his thoughts about joining the Italian squad for the 2023 season, as quoted by formula1.com:
"I am truly delighted and honoured to take over the leadership of Scuderia Ferrari as Team Principal.
"As someone who has always held a lifelong passion for motorsport, Ferrari has always represented the very pinnacle of the racing world to me.
"I look forward to working with the talented and truly passionate team in Maranello to honour the history and heritage of the Scuderia and deliver for our Tifosi around the world."
There is no denying Ferrari salvaged a series of winless campaigns in 2020 and 2021 to propel themselves back to the front of the grid.
However, Ferrari's appointment of Vasseur indicates a greater desire to achieve championship success within the team's upper management.
Whilst this year consisted of several embarrassing and otherwise underwhelming results, the Italian squad still finished second in the standings.
Ferrari's frustrations with Mattia Binotto are indicative of growing ambition among executives to return the team to Championship-winning success.
Vasseur's experience at Alfa Romeo will be useful in 2023, but perhaps his biggest asset is his perspective as an outsider.
The decision to appoint Vasseur suggests Ferrari is willing to change its approach and adopt a harder line against its previous miscalculations, which proved costly in 2022.