Ferrari Chief Adamant They Are "In Line" Despite Maranello Woes

Fred Vasseur has defended the Ferrari team saying they are "in line".

It's been a turbulent start to the 2023 F1 season for Ferrari. With rumours of struggles within the team and the departure of key personnel, the Italian team appears to be facing an uphill battle. However, new team principal Fred Vasseur remains optimistic, urging everyone to stay focused on performance and not to be discouraged by their results of the first race of the season.

The power struggle between Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna and team principal Fred Vasseur has been a topic of discussion for some time now. In-fighting has been a major concern for the team, as it was during Sebastian Vettel's 2018 F1 campaign when the power struggle at the top cost Maurizio Arrivabene his job. Unfortunately, it seems history is repeating itself, and this political upheaval is likely to affect Ferrari's 2023 F1 campaign.

Adding to Ferrari's woes is the departure of key personnel, including David Sanchez, who has already left the team or is on their way out. Reports from credible Italian publications suggest an environment of fear has taken hold of the team since Mattia Binotto stepped down as team principal at the end of last year.

Despite these challenges, Vasseur remains confident that the team can overcome them and succeed in the long run. He questions why the team has become a target after just one race and highlights the importance of finding solutions to reliability issues, given the championship's length. Bahrain may have been bad in some ways, but there were positives to take away from the race.

Vasseur explained:

"I find it difficult to understand why the team becomes a target after only one race. As far as the correlation between the simulation and the track is concerned, we are in line.

"That's why I asked everyone to stay focused on performance and find solutions to reliability issues, because the championship is long. Just because you don't win the first one doesn't mean you're offside. Bahrain was bad in some ways, and good in others!"

We've had only one race, people!

There's plenty of time for Ferrari to show us more performance. https://t.co/ibfwixWpaQ

— F1FAll (@F1fAllOfficial) March 14, 2023

It remains to be seen how Ferrari will perform in the remainder of the 2023 F1 season. However, one thing is clear: Vasseur and his team remain committed to their goal of success.