The mood was bleak at Maranello this time 12 months ago. After weeks of speculation, team principal Mattia Binotto put an end to rumours over his future and confirmed he was moving on after four years in charge.
Under Binotto Ferrari went from race-winners to midfield strugglers and back. Things were looking up at the start of 2022 as the team seemed to have sussed Formula 1’s new regulations more quickly than their rivals.
They came out of the stalls front-runners, claiming a one-two in the season-opener. But it was short-lived.
As the season progressed, the team began to unravel. Through a combination of driver mistakes, unreliability and some costly strategic errors, Red Bull and Max Verstappen were soon running away with both championships.
Ferrari improved to second place in the constructors’ championship but those in charge decided it was time for change. Binotto moved aside and Alfa Romeo team principal and Sauber Motorsport CEO Frederic Vasseur took over.
With almost a full year behind him, which included the achievement of being the only team to beat Red Bull to a race win all season, and having seen a clear upswing in their performance since the summer break, Vasseur can feel satisfied by his first season in red. Asked to reflect on his his year in charge, Vasseur jokingly replies he is “still alive – good news!”
“One year ago it was… ‘tough’ is not the right word, but it was quite a challenge,” he continues. “I joined quite late and it was a huge wave of things to manage, to understand, to discover in a couple of weeks because it was four weeks before the launch and five or six before Bahrain [scene of the opening race].
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“Now I think I am in a much more comfortable situation, I know almost everybody in the company, the system, and I have a better understanding of this and I think I am doing a good job, a better job than last year [when he was at Alfa Romeo].”
He notes the gains the team made towards the end of this year and emphasises this needs to continue. “It’s a non-end process, F1, and if you have the feeling that you are in good shape, you are almost dead,” he says.
“We need to keep the momentum. I think the last part of the season went pretty well, it’s never enough [though] and we don’t have to stop this.”
In terms of pure results, Vasseur’s first year might be seen as a disappointment….
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