F1 News: Will Charles Leclerc Prosper under Vasseur as new Team Principal Confirmed?
It has now been confirmed that Frederic Vasseur will be joining Ferrari in January as the new team principal.
It was announced shortly after the end of the 2022 F1 season that Mattia Binotto will be stepping down as the Ferrari team principal at the end of this year. Although Ferrari had seen massive improvement this season after a difficult couple of years, there were still many strategical errors as well as power unit issues throughout the season.
Charles Leclerc started off the year showing some incredible performance with many thinking he was on his way to winning his first championship. However, a lot of the strategical issues affected his races and because of this, rumours began to circulate that there was friction between him and Binotto.
Leclerc reacted to the news of Binotto by posting to his Instagram:
"Thank you for everything, Mattia.
"We spent four very intense years together, full of great satisfaction and also, inevitably, moments that tested us. My esteem and respect for you have never diminished, and we have always worked with full dedication to achieve the same goals.
"Good luck for everything"
Leclerc has also commented on the problems that the team faced over the 2022 season. He explained:
"The frustrating part came when we got an upgrade and had the fastest car. The new parts in Barcelona really pushed us forward. We made too little out of it.
"The engine broke down in Barcelona, in Monaco we made a mistake in strategy, the next engine failure came in Baku, then the engine penalty in Canada...
"The pace was there to win races, but we didn't deliver. That was hard to accept."
Since the rumours of Fred Vasseur joining Ferrari as the team principal have been confirmed, many fans have shared their approval of the decision reminding others that Leclerc got his first Formula 1 points whilst working with Vasseur.
Leclerc made his F1 debut in 2018 driving for Sauber where Vasseur was team principal. The young driver finished his first season with three consecutive seventh-place finishes and during the whole season he out-qualified his teammate Marcus Ericsson seventeen times out of the twenty-one races. He finished up thirteenth in the championship with 39 points.
Speaking at the FIA Gala last week, Leclerc commented on working with Vasseur. He said:
"Fred has always been very direct, very honest. And that's something I like about him. If it's him we'll see him in the next few months."
Although the issues between Leclerc and Binotto were never officially confirmed, many are of the opinion that Leclerc and Vasseur have a much better working relationship.
Some fans took to Twitter once Vasseur's appointment was confirmed. One wrote:
"Charles got his first F1 points with Fred as the team principal, hopefully more things to celebrate in the future"
Another fan wrote: "The duo back together. Welcome Fred."
With the strong performance Leclerc showed at the start of the 2022 season plus the points he could have gained without the poor strategical choices by the team, it is easy to agree with the fans that Leclerc should be more successful in the 2023 season. Knowing that Leclerc and Vasseur's first experience of working together in Sauber was a success, I'm hoping this will aid Leclerc's confidence in not only the team but the car as well, leading to more success.