New Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has interestingly likened the “atmosphere” at Ferrari to Renault’s and Sauber’s, the two teams that the Frenchman worked for ahead of his switch to Maranello.
Vasseur worked for Renault first in 2016 as the Enstone-based team’s boss; however, he resigned at the end of that season following multiple disagreements with the outfit’s managing director Cyril Abiteboul.
The Frenchman switched to Sauber for the 2017 season, with Vasseur having remained at the Hinwil-based team until his recent move to Ferrari.
Vasseur was successful as Sauber’s CEO and as the Alfa Romeo side’s team principal, with the 54-year-old having famously given Charles Leclerc his debut season at the pinnacle of motorsport.
READ: Ford break silence on Red Bull speculation
Given that Alfa Romeo used Ferrari power units, Vasseur is no stranger to the Italians; however, he sees similarities already to what life was like at his former jobs, in regard to the “atmosphere” being the same.
“For sure everything is a bit bigger, everything is a bit more up to date, but you can feel the same atmosphere at the end of the day because it’s a racing team,” he told media, including RacingNews365.com.
“The atmosphere that they had in Enstone, at Sauber or Ferrari, I would say that it’s not completely different – that motivation is the same and my job description is exactly the same, I just have to give them all the support to do the job in their best condition.”
Vasseur joins Ferrari following their somewhat disappointing 2022 campaign, with the Italians having failed to make the most of their excellent package.
It’s not the first time, though, that Vasseur has switched teams in the midst of a difficult situation, with his move from Renault to Sauber having come whilst the Swiss side were entering their partnership with Alfa Romeo.
With that in mind, Vasseur believes Ferrari are in “much better shape” than Sauber were when he joined the team in 2017, with the Italians being a “bit more advanced”.
READ: Kimi Raikkonen announces wife’s pregnancy with third child
“When I joined [Sauber] it was a bit different because I knew the facility and the factory from the past, and from the relationship we had in the last five or six years that it was not completely unknown for me,” explained Vasseur.
“If you want to speak about [the] simulator, for example, Ferrari is in a much better shape than Sauber was – on every single area I think they are a bit more advanced.
“But it’s difficult to say, ‘Okay, it’s crystal clear that the [performance] gap is coming from this’.”