The team principal of Ferrari, Fred Vasseur has been working tirelessly with the team to improve their strategic as well as car performance in the latter half of the 2023 season. As Formula 1 is reaching the end of its summer break, the focus is now on the following season even though the current season has reached the halfway mark.
While some teams have chosen to put a stop to their continuing changes in favor of focusing all of their efforts on building their 2024 cars and Ferrari has also taken a similar step.
Talking about their strategic plans to La Gazzetta dello Sport of Italy, the team principal said, “We have to think differently, find margins thanks to which the riders can ride without always being at the limit. And in any case, the deadline for the new red is not the end of the year. We have to be ready for Bahrain in March. We still have many months ahead of us.”
🚨 | Ferrari must be aggressive in 2024 development, says Fred Vasseur:
“You have to be aggressive in the project.
“We have to think differently, find margins so the drivers can push without always being at the limit.”
— formularacers (@formularacers_) August 21, 2023
The development of the current model was put on hold before the summer break, according to Vasseur, who was outlining the timeline for the forthcoming vehicle. The team will focus most of its resources on the season to come even though the car’s design is still in its earliest phases, yet certain authorized alterations are slated to be incorporated this year.
Future plans of Ferrari
Ferrari is now in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship, meaning it is less favorable than one might expect for a team of their caliber. Charles Leclerc earned the team three podium finishes this season in addition to a few pole positions. The team chief pointed out that Ferrari’s real issues came up during races, particularly in comparison to rivals like Red Bull, who dominated the first half of the year with 12 victories from 12 races.
🎙️| Charles Leclerc:
“I have a huge love of Ferrari. And my first target and my first dream is to become a world champion with Ferrari, more than anything else.”
“So, if there’s a slight opportunity for it to happen, I will have no doubt about pushing to stay here.”
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) August 14, 2023
The crew is aware that the pace of the race, which is affected by the car’s aerodynamics, poses challenges. Vasseur noted the unexpected repercussions of pushing boundaries and the subsequent unpredictability in the car’s behavior while looking back on the previous season, referring to the complexity of aerodynamics.
While Leclerc’s Spanish teammate, Carlos Sainz is patiently waiting for his contract extension with the team, the former is rumored to sign an exorbitant deal with Ferrari.
Both the Ferrari drivers will lose their affiliations with the team until they sign an extension before the end of 2024 when their contracts are supposed to be terminated. Ferrari at present appears to be just as many points away from winning a race as it did in the last couple of years, in spite of having been quite close to beating Red Bull the previous year.