Revealed: Ferrari’s most important signing…and it’s not Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari has undergone a big turnaround in the past two seasons, with Fred Vasseur righting the wrongs of Mattia Binotto’s reign.

In the past 18 months, only one team aside from Red Bull has managed to sniff victory. With wins in Singapore 2023 and Australia 2024, the signs are there that Ferrari is travelling in the right direction after their stumbles throughout 2022.

Fred Vasseur ‘adapting really well’ to life at Ferrari

There’s no doubt that Ferrari has had a good understanding of the ground-effect regulations that have only been bested by Adrian Newey’s technical team. At the start of 2022, it was the F1-75 that came out swinging hard and, initially, looked to have the legs on Red Bull.

But, as Red Bull improved their car and, more importantly, reduced the excess fat from their RB18, the pressure began to ramp up on Mattia Binotto’s crew. Mistakes were never far away, with all sorts of weird and wonderful strategic blunders made – as well as questionable operational decisions.

The issues became more pronounced as the season went on, as Ferrari’s design philosophy was neutered by FIA moves to reduce the porpoising effect that threatened the health of the drivers up and down the grid. A technical directive, TD/039, was introduced in Belgium and, coincidentally or not, Ferrari didn’t win another race that season after winning four and challenging for more in the first half.

But it was the weird decision-making and strategic blunders that really made the headlines for Ferrari. In Hungary, Alpine’s pace had fallen off a cliff once they fitted the hard tyre but, Ferrari, upon seeing this, elected to do the same with Charles Leclerc as the Monegasque was challenging for victory or, at least, a podium.

So bad a call was this that not only was Leclerc promptly caught and overtaken by Max Verstappen – then his championship rival – that the Dutch driver had time to spin, allow Leclerc back through, only for Verstappen to catch back up and overtake again en route to victory. Leclerc went on to finish in sixth, having started from third.

This is just one example of the types of shenanigans that one could expect of Ferrari not too long ago and, between the errors and Binotto’s constant calls for calm, understanding, and promises to do better – which was never evidenced – it cost the team boss his job.

Charles Leclerc’s Suzuka drive underlines strategic improvements

As likeable and personable Binotto may have been and, hailing from his long-term engineering background with the Scuderia, he knew how to move the team forward in terms of building the car. But it was the finer processes and people management that Binotto appeared lacking in, with Ferrari’s cartoon-like chaos making them a laughing stock by the end of 2022.

Cut to a handful of races into 2024, and that laughter has well and truly stopped. Ferrari is no longer a Hanna-Barbera type outfit there solely for amusement, and has clawed their way from throwing away strong results into a team that is willing to take strategic risks – and make them work.

This was evidenced in Japan by a reasonably off-colour qualifying showing on Saturday as Carlos Sainz qualified fourth with Leclerc a confused eighth, as he couldn’t quite understand why the pace wasn’t there.

On race day, Sainz utilised the more regular two-stop strategy to take third place, but it was Leclerc’s attempt at a one-stop strategy that was commendable as it revealed that, finally, there appears to be trust between the drivers and the pit wall.

Radio communications between Leclerc and race engineer Xavier Marcos reveal that, as the race unfolded, Ferrari had clearly told Leclerc they expected the hard tyre to be slower than expected based on Mercedes’ pace. A lesson learned from Hungary 2022, then?

But Leclerc indicated he wanted to proceed with “Plan C”, ie. the one-stop to change to the hards, but couldn’t afford to lose any time to his two-stopping rivals. Leclerc’s pace duly proved eye-opening, keeping his medium tyres alive until Lap 26 and letting Verstappen through without losing any time – his error that allowed Perez through the signal that it was finally time to pit.

Rescuing fourth (and not far from third) was a big result from eighth on the grid against some tough rivals, and it underlined the huge steps that Ferrari has made in cultivating a new ethos of trust – both from the drivers towards the pit wall, and from the pit wall back towards their driver’s abilities.

Gone are the days of incredulous radio messages like Sainz’s “stop inventing guys” at Silverstone 2022 when he was told to try holding back the field from the leading Leclerc after a Safety Car after the Monegasque driver had been left out on old tyres.

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Fred Vasseur “definitely makes a difference”

This is due to the changes implemented by the experienced Fred Vasseur. Unlike Binotto’s technical history, Vasseur’s background in engineering gave way to people management over the years – going back over two decades as he created teams like ASM and ART and created the Spark Racing Technology company that creates the Formula E chassis.

But Vasseur’s pedigree in Formula 1 isn’t long and storied. He was appointed as team boss of Renault in 2016, and resigned at season end as he and managing director Cyril Abiteboul couldn’t agree on a direction forward (sounds familiar all these years later, doesn’t it?)

Joining Sauber, Vasseur led the Hinwil-based team under their Alfa Romeo guise up until 2022 but, while there were good days – particularly provided by Kimi Raikkonen – Sauber had slumped to the rear of the grid by the time Vasseur was called up by Ferrari to lead the Scuderia.

But, under the weight of the political beast that is Ferrari, Vasseur appears to be thriving. Having already had an existing relationship with Leclerc, having taken him on as a rookie at Sauber, the Monegasque has been full of praise for what the Frenchman is achieving.

“He’s adapting really well. I mean, Ferrari is definitely a different beast than Alfa Romeo,” Leclerc said last season.

“Many more people involved, a lot more pressure. But Fred straight away understood what the areas were where we should work on. And yes, he definitely makes a difference.

“He’s slowly implementing this new mindset, which I think is positive and will make a difference in the long term. But it’s also his first season within the team, so we need to give him time in order to see these changes take form on track.”

Towards the end of 2023, Leclerc was effusive in his praise of Vasseur: “I knew exactly what to expect when Fred arrived, and I was aware of how good he was. Every person is different, and there has always been a special connection with him: he is good at motivating you and calming you down when you need it.

“Moreover, he has always been very direct with me. He is exactly what I need: someone who reproaches me when I’m not doing well and someone who tells me I’m doing well. It seems like a very simple thing, but when you arrive in Formula 1 and you’re a Ferrari driver, there aren’t many people that honest, and it’s hard to find them.

“It takes time to get back to the top, but I have no doubt that we will succeed with him. He is always rational, doesn’t let his emotions get the best of him, and that’s a good thing because it puts everything in the right perspective.”

It’s worth remembering that 2024 represents the first season in which Vasseur has been able to play a commanding role, having inherited what was a Binotto-led car at the start of last year.

The 2023 car was competitive but suffered from tyre wear issues that hampered results. Between addressing those wear issues and the strategic elements, Vasseur has duly ticked both off his list – and the team is now clearly the second-best on the grid when it comes to race day.

“From the beginning of the season, we are much better on the tyre management and degradation,” Vasseur said after the race at Suzuka.

“We were able to do the fastest lap in Jeddah and Melbourne. It was almost the case today for one-tenth, I think.

“And I think we did a very good step forward on this one. We improved a lot on our weaknesses and we improved massively on the tyre management, drivers, strategy and the team.

“We have some other weaknesses and we have to improve somewhere else, and we want to do a better job. But I think this one is very well under control.”

Vasseur’s demeanour is that of an amiable and relaxed man, with a no-nonsense approach, but his harder side was on full display at last year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix when his team was compromised by track issues outside of their control.

The incident that tore Sainz’s car to pieces revealed Vasseur’s emotions, and it was exactly the type of passion and (justified) anger that typifies a logical and sensible approach to team management – exactly the approach that is now working wonders for the Scuderia.

It’s also Vasseur who managed to get one over on his old friend Toto Wolff by tempting a recently re-signed Lewis Hamilton to walk out on Mercedes after all their success over a decade, and commit to joining Ferrari from 2025 and ahead of the new engine regulations.

Taking the incredibly difficult decision to ditch Sainz, at a time when the Spaniard is perhaps at the peak of his abilities, shows he’s not afraid to make tough calls, and the pairing of Leclerc, a Ferrari darling and prodigal son, with Hamilton, a driver used to being in command, shows Vasseur isn’t cowed by the prospect of handling and controlling two alpha drivers.

In a little over a year, Vasseur has stamped his authority all over Ferrari, and the Scuderia is in a very happy place. With a strong car and strong engine, development going in the right direction, and all the promise that Hamilton and the new regulations promise, Vasseur’s processes are yielding immediate reward.

With strategic blunders seemingly consigned to the past, Vasseur’s Ferrari is maximising its potential and closing the gap to Red Bull at a time when the Milton Keynes-based squad’s focus may not be as sharp as usual.

The last time a Frenchman led Ferrari, it took a few seasons before Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher swept all before them. Who would be brave enough at this point to rule out the possibility of a Vasseur-led Ferrari, fielding Leclerc and Hamilton, doing the same from 2026?

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