At the end of the 2022 season, it was clear that a major change was needed at Ferrari, with star driver Charles Leclerc reportedly not even on speaking terms with team principal Mattia Binotto.
While reliability issues did play their part in the Scuderia’s 2022 shortcomings, the amount of strategic errors was completely unacceptable for a team with ambitions as high as Ferrari’s.
Binotto eventually announced his resignation and was quickly replace by Fred Vasseur, who made the move from Alfa Romeo to the Scuderia.
The Frenchman worked with Leclerc during his rookie year with Sauber, making him the ideal man to come in and made an instant impact at the team.
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Vasseur has revealed that he did not speak to Audi, who will complete their takeover of Sauber in 2026, about the move until it was completing, with their response being short but clear.
“When I had the call from Ferrari, I didn’t share it with everyone in the world,” he said via RacingNews365.com.
“It was my own reflection and my own discussion with John Elkann. I didn’t share it with Audi before the announcement.
“I [then] had a chat with someone from Audi, and they told me that you can’t refuse an offer from Ferrari.
“Sauber is staying close to my thoughts and I had a very good relationship [with] everybody at the team, and wish them all the best for the future.”
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Vasseur has not hung around in getting stuck into his role at Ferrari, watching his drivers take part in a private three-day test near their factory in Maranello late last month.
It has been rumoured that Ferrari’s 2023 car, which is yet to be unveiled, will be over a second faster than last year’s challenger, making it arguably the fastest car on the grid.
It is expected that teams will sandbag in pre-season testing to hide the true capability of their machinery, leaving fans to wait until the Bahrain Grand Prix to see the true power of the new Ferrari.