Fred Vasseur has been signed to replace the outgoing Mattia Binotto as Ferrari’s Formula One boss for the 2023 season, the team confirmed Tuesday.
Vasseur, who has been Alfa Romeo team principal since 2017, was widely expected to take the job after Binotto and Ferrari confirmed their split following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
He will inherit a competitive Ferrari car which won four races and claimed 12 pole positions with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in 2022 but fell well short of a title challenge.
Vasseur has been tasked with ending Ferrari’s championship drought — the team has not won a drivers’ title since Kimi Raikkonen’s in 2007 or a constructors’ title since 2008.
The move also reunites Vasseur with Ferrari’s superstar driver Leclerc after overseeing his rookie campaign at Alfa Romeo in 2018.
Leclerc had grown increasingly frustrated with Ferrari’s strategy under Binotto in the final races of 2022.
The move is a big step up the competitive order for Vasseur after a short stint as Renault boss in 2016 before six seasons at Alfa.
Vasseur is well respected within motor racing by drivers and rival team principals.
He and Nicholas Todt set up the ART Grand Prix team which won GP2 championships with Nico Rosberg in 2005 and Lewis Hamilton in 2006.
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