Fred Vasseur breaks silence on Ferrari’s comical strategy calls

Ferrari were massively hindered in 2022 by a series of strategic blunders.

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari were forced to settle for second place in both championships last season, behind they phenomenally impressive Max Verstappen and Red Bull.

What made being runners up even more painful for the team was the fact that they shot themselves in the foot so many times, putting themselves out of contention rather than being outright beaten by a superior team.

Mistakes with tyre choices in Britain and Hungary put Charles Leclerc out of the running for a race win, while strange pit stop calls in Monaco and Spa also cost the driver a significant number of points.

With the Scuderia’s shortcomings clearly coming as a result of mistakes from the team, Ferrari have decided to appoint Fred Vasseur from Alfa Romeo to replace Mattia Binotto as their team principal.

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The Frenchman is an exciting signing for the team and he has been tipped as the man who could change Ferrari’s fortunes this season.

Speaking to Racecar Engineering recently, Vasseur has highlighted the importance of Ferrari getting their strategy calls right this season but has admitted that it more complex than some people think.

“Strategy is a critical part of Formula 1,” he explained.

“However, it is made complex by specific allocations such as tyres, the timing of sessions throughout the race weekend, and developing and bringing new parts to the circuits where they’re going to be most performant.

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“The closer you are to peak performance, the more dramatic the effect of any tingle mistake in the operations or strategy.

“You must be sure you’re doing the right thing at the right time to exploit the opportunities you have to collect data and make progress.

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“Strategy during the race is entirely different. It hinges on what’s about to happen next and how to make the most of that.”

According to reports, Charles Leclerc was not even on speaking teams with Mattia Binotto by the time F1 travelled to Abu Dhabi, such was the 25-year-old’s frustrations with his team’s mistakes.

Leclerc was seen being told off by his boss after the Grand Prix in Silverstone, where the Ferrari driver was strangely not called into the pits under the safety car, while his teammate Carlos Sainz did, giving the Spaniard the chance to secure his first win in F1.