MOTORSPORT
Ferrari F1 says finishing second again won’t be good enough
New team boss Fred Vasseur will look to avoid strategy errors of his predecessor
Ferrari will make marginal changes to their Formula One race team but anything more substantial can wait until after the opening rounds of the season, new boss Fred Vasseur said on Tuesday.
The Frenchman started work at Maranello only last month after being appointed as replacement to principal Mattia Binotto.
“It’s short notice before the first race but I’m using the days to know everybody in the company and go deeply in detail,” Vasseur said at the launch of the team’s new SF-23 car at their Fiorano track.
“It’s difficult to have a big change into the organisation, but we will do some marginal changes ... on the race team operation,” he added.
“And then let’s see after Bahrain and the first couple of races, what we will do.”
The season-opener at the Sakhir circuit is on March 5.
Ferrari finished runners-up to Red Bull and now double world champion Max Verstappen in both 2022 championships, their challenge let down by strategy errors and poor reliability as well as mistakes by drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Vasseur has been clear that Ferrari are targeting both titles this season and finishing second again will not be good enough.
Williams, Aston Martin and McLaren also launched their new cars in the past week ahead of a season that will have a record 23 races.
McLaren unveiled their new MCL60 car on Monday in a striking new papaya orange and blue livery, the colours first carried by the team in the 1960s and reintroduced in 2018. The team will start their 60th anniversary with rookie and 2021 Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri joining alongside Lando Norris. Norris enters his fifth season in Formula 1 with McLaren after collecting a sixth career F1 podium at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
New Zealand’s Bruce McLaren founded McLaren Racing in 1963 and since then, the team have won 20 Formula 1 world championships, 183 Formula 1 grands prix, the Indianapolis 500 three times, and the Le Mans 24 Hours at their first attempt.
Aston Martin unveiled their 2023 challenger, the AMR23, with driver Lance Stroll joined by veteran Fernando Alonso replacing Sebastian Vettel.