SUMMARY
- For second season in a row, Red Bull loses several engineers to rival F1 teams.
- Ferrari's team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledges recruiting some of them from Red Bull.
It is no secret that Red Bull executed something quite extraordinary in 2023, a success other teams could only ever dream about. This year, however, while most teams sat and wished on stars, Ferrari has pulled off an insane recruitment drive that could propel them over Mercedes if not the defending world champions, Red Bull.
When comparing Red Bull and Ferrari’s 2023 season, the two have had a polar opposite outcome to their year. While one celebrated their untimely dominance, the other team mopped over their failed strategies and a P3 position in the standings. Although the team ended their season on a dead end, Fred Vasseur came up with a genius plan to help the team move forward.
Fred Vasseur goes on a recruitment drive at Red Bull
Although Red Bull’s success is worth noting, the real work put in by the team at the factory and the staff is what has pushed them forward. While this may go unnoticed for some, Ferrari’s new strategy involved noticing the work behind the scenes.
Recently, Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, went on a recruitment drive at Red Bull and ended up signing new engineers for the 2024 season. These engineers will be working with Ferrari and helping them level up observing that the Prancing Horse team was close to beating Mercedes by just a few points.
Ferrari’s motto for 2024 is to have a season that focuses on their performance, simulation, and tires. The new engineers have specific knowledge of vehicle dynamics, tire wear, and more. The Monza team plans out their future in securing a P2 position if not beating the championship-winning team. So far if reflecting on their 2023 season, Ferrari has faced challenges technically and with their strategies.
With their star driver, Charles Leclerc witnessing a rookie overtake him in an AlphaTauri and fell off the race after securing pole positions for the team, the blame was only for the Prancing Horse team to endure. Nevertheless, their new strategy to hoard as many talented technicians and engineers in the team seems to have given them a slight advantage against Adrian Newey’s genius for 2024.
Ferrari keeps its car launch behind closed doors
Ferrari’s launch last season left many with high expectations which the team could not meet as the launch came closer. However, their start to last season set them back with a lot to catch onto and made it clear that they could only compete for a runner-up position. Nevertheless, Mercedes also took the runner-up position to the Milton Keynes-based team from them.
🚨 THE LAUNCH OF THE
2024 FERRARI F1 CAR IS ON FEBRUARY 13 pic.twitter.com/4lh4ElKOei— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) December 17, 2023
While their launch last season was done on Valentine’s Day and had an event for it, this time around they have learned a thing or two about car launches. The Monza team will be having a closed-door car launch which will not involve any cameras or journalists trying to get a picture of the car. With this, they hope to have a better start to their season and push for a championship victory.