It's a very delicate situation at home Ferrari, in which putting your hand is certainly a mangy act. There stable of Maranello, after the great expectations of the beginning of the season, is in a learning phase. What was wrong? How and how much can be improved?
A Red to forget
The questions are many, as are the rumors. One of the most quoted regards the inability to travel at heights above the ground equal or similar to those of the RedBull. Jeddah, in this respect, was a race watershed, as we are talking about a completely different track from the Bahrain, in which the problem of degradation (so much mentioned in Sakhir) has not been seen. The problem, therefore, lies in the structure of the car and the words of Vassur they certainly don't help: “Engineers need to stop bullshitting me!". Very strong statements, which already give an idea of what the French engineer expected, who however has already identified the problem: “Weakness? I get it, but I'm keeping it to myself."
Ferrari prepares other news
Following the race in Jeddah, in which several arrived updates, Ferrari has already figured out what to work on. In fact, in the Red house there will be space for a new bottom and a new rear suspension, aiming to find the right balance on the SF-23. The big news is scheduled for May, with the Miami and Spanish GPs (scheduled for early June). It will be very important months to understand if in the end the indiscretion on the changes in view of 2024 will be confirmed.
We continue without a technical director
One of the questions that most frequently comes up at Ferrari is: but is there a technical director? A real answer does not exist and, this alone, could be a starting point for discussion. Usually, in a company (regardless of importance), there are always internal hierarchies. In Ferrari however, as Vasseur himself admitted, the points of reference are Enrico Cardile, responsible for the chassis, and Gualtieri, responsible for the engine. The real "father" of the SF-23 is missing, who if desired can be identified in Mattia binotto, who held that role in addition to that of team principal. We need to clarify on this front, also because Ferrari, in announcing Vasseur as team principal, made it clear that the Frenchman would not replace Binotto as technical director.
This, Vassuer must think
With this absence, even greater are the responsibilities that are given to Frederic Vasseur. So what he is granted carte blanche, in every respect. Also because we haven't seen anything from Ferrari about him yet, which we won't see before next year of course. However, it will be important for Vasseur to assert himself from now on, taking ever more control of the situation by trying to raise a car that has received the blow but absolutely does not want to sink.
