With the arrival by Frédéric Vasseur Ferrari set the course where he wants to go in the years to come. A direction in which, once again it is the history and prestige of the team that should make the names great, and not the other way around. This trend has become a double-edged sword for Ferrari. So much so that now the big names, from Wolff to Horner, Seidl, who fled to Sauber to prepare for the arrival of Audi, all politely declined the offer from the Reds.
Vasseur's reign was born from the ashes of that of binotto. It is like sand thrown on a fire to smother the flames. The French manager-engineer born in 1968 is a very reserved figure, with a great nose for talent and a long love affair with motorsport which has led him to cover various roles, climbing the hierarchies from the bottom up. Respected within the paddock, his tenure at Ferrari marks his transition to a top team that, although coming from outside, he knows well. Here he will also find again Charles Leclerc, a driver who accompanied the debut in Alfa Romeo. Precisely for this reason, a clearer line is expected on the hierarchies between the riders, a hot topic this season, as well as a point of break with Binotto.
An infernal mechanism
It is a mechanism from which it is difficult to get out and which is slowly suffocating and isolating the most prestigious team in the paddock. None of the men following Stefano Domenicali, the last to win in 2008, has ever brought a title to Ferrari. Those who arrive in Maranello therefore have the possibility of making the history of this sport, but those who leave almost always do so after a breakup and after a failure. Playing the game would be too high a risk for already established figures, a leap into the void.
This mechanism has continued as a direct consequence of what Ferrari has done over the years. Letting go of really important figures, one "brain drain" which deprived the Reds of a huge human capital, of excellent minds, recognized as such in other contexts. Jean Todt, Stefano Domenicali, Ross Brawn, James Allison, Andrea Stella, recently promoted to the role of Team Principal at McLaren, are just some of the names of a certain caliber, to which Ferrari, however, has turned its back. Fame and prestige may be attractive for a driver, for figures belonging to minor realities but they are not enough for the biggest names. Ferrari lacks the ability to read between the lines, to analyze the facts and this has pushed the world goal further and further away, condemning the Scuderia to chase the others rather than dictate the pace.
The figure desired by the upper floors
The management is another critical point of Ferrari. Bulky and invisible at the same time. divisive. It has long been pushing in one direction, and the plan that emerged after Binotto's resignation confirmed it. Relations between the Elkann family and the former Lausanne team principal plummeted in 2022, the year of the rebirth of the Reds after two years of patience, study and promises. A rebirth which compared to ambitions has brought few victories to Maranello, and this according to the top management, due to too many mistakes on the wall captained by Mattia Binotto.
"Welcome to Scuderia Ferrari, Fred. Good job and let's bring home the World Cup” he comments on Twitter Lapo Elkann brother of the President of the Red Army, John. A clear, unequivocal message that already puts Vasseur in an awkward position to which the Frenchman will have to get used to in order to survive within the team: that of the "savior". Putting him in front of a difficult goal to achieve in his first year in charge della Rossa, undergoing major restructuring following the resignation of Binotto. Precisely for this reason it will be necessary to place extreme trust in Vasseur, and in the structure that will arise from this new management.
Vasseur's role will not have the weight of that covered by Binotto, who has also left the figure of Technical Director uncovered. Vasseur will have coordination and managerial tasks bringing the organizational model – adopted by pre-Binotto Ferrari and by most of the teams – back to a pyramidal structure with figures linked to a specific role and fixed hierarchies.
