Charles Leclerc has revealed that he’s “completely behind” Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur and believes the Frenchman is making the “right choices”, despite the outfit having endured a woeful start to 2023.
Having switched from Alfa Romeo to Ferrari over the winter break to replace Mattia Binotto, Vasseur has endured a challenging start to life at Maranello.
The experienced 54-year-old has had issues to deal with both on track and behind-the-scenes, with him seemingly having inherited a bit of a mess.
The start of the season has seen several Ferrari personnel either leave the team or be linked to a move elsewhere, whilst on the circuit they’ve slumped to fourth in the pecking order.
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Having been able to compete with Red Bull last season, Ferrari are nowhere near the Austrians this season, who already boast a 146-point advantage over the Italians.
Ferrari’s main issue has been high tyre degradation, something the likes of Mercedes and Aston Martin have taken advantage of.
Driver errors have also cost the team, with Carlos Sainz and Leclerc having both been guilty this season of the occasional blunder.
Despite all the concerns, though, Leclerc has faith in Vasseur, who the Monegasque recognises is “trying to analyse the situation as quickly as possible”.
“He’s just starting this process now,” said Leclerc.
“Until now he has basically been trying to analyse the situation as quickly as possible in order to do the best changes possible for the future.
“I think the big part of the job will be done from now on so we will see, but obviously, I speak a lot with Fred and I know what are his middle- and long-term plans for the team.
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“I’m completely behind him and I trust him fully. I’m sure these are the right choices and it goes in the right direction for the team. So for that, I’m looking forward to it. But let’s wait and see.”
Leclerc, of course, does know Vasseur very well, having worked with him at Alfa Romeo.
Vasseur was Leclerc’s team boss in 2018 during the 25-year-old’s rookie season, whilst Leclerc also worked with the Frenchman in 2017 when competing for ART Grand Prix in F2, which Vasseur ran at the time.