The 2022 season looked to be the perfect opportunity for Ferrari to end their title drought, which now goes all the way back to 2008.
Under the major regulation changes, the Scuderia managed to go from occasional podium challengers to title challengers, really taking the fight to Red Bull in the early stages of the season.
Their car looked more than fast enough to win the title and both of their drivers had the skillset needed to win races, putting Ferrari in a strong position to top the championship table.
Unfortunately for the Ferrari, strategic blunders by Mattia Binotto and his team cost them a shot at winning either championship, with strange pit stop calls in Monaco, Spa and Hungary in particular costing the Scuderia a huge haul of points.
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Due to the nature of the team’s shortcomings, Binotto resigned at the end of the season and has been replaced by Alfa Romeo’s Fred Vasseur.
The Frenchman will have a lot of work to do if he wishes to make Ferrari title favourites this season, but he has claimed that he is not afraid to step in should the strategic errors continue under his leadership.
“We are trying to understand exactly what’s happened on every single mistake that happened last year to try to know if it’s a matter of decision or organisation or communication,” he said via RacingNews365.com.
“Very often on the pit wall the biggest issue is more the communication and the number of people involved [in the decision-making process] than the individuals.
“If you put too many people discussing about the same things, when you have the outcome of the discussion the car will be on the next lap!
“You just need to have a clear flow of discussion and communication between the good people at the right position. But it’s a work in progress.
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“I will bring my own approach on this, that when I’ve done a mistake I’m the first one to say ‘okay, my mistake’ and when I have to take action, I take action.”
Charles Leclerc was reportedly so frustrated with the constant blunders from his pit wall that he was not on speaking terms with Mattia Binotto by the time F1 travelled to Abu Dhabi.
The Monegasque will be hoping that his relationship with Vasseur is much better, having worked with the Frenchman successfully during his time with Sauber.