Charles Leclerc has hailed the culture change at Ferarri under Formula 1 team principal Frederic Vasseur and says the team is in a better place as a result.
Vasseur has helmed the Italian outfit since January 2023, having been brought in to replace Mattia Binotto following a season of missed opportunities in 2022.
Vasseur is now midway through his second season in charge of the team, and Leclerc believes the team has changed for the better under his leadership.
“I think people have more responsibilities, are put in a better place to be at their 100%, and really have the trust from Fred, which is a really good thing,” the Monagasque told Motorsport.com in an interview.
“And Fred has always been super good at putting the people in the best possible condition in order for them to perform at their best. So this is really where it changed, and it’s a change of approach.”
Leclerc says that Ferrari’s recent struggles with its Barcelona upgrade package and a return of bouncing on its SF-24 is just one example of an improved culture under the former Alfa Romeo boss.
“It took us three or four races, but everyone acknowledged what were the weaknesses of what we had brought on the car,” he remarked regarding the upgrade struggles.
“And maybe in the past, it wasn’t as easy as now. So I think we are in a better place in the team.
“We’ve done big, big progress in the last seven to eight months before Barcelona – Barcelona has been a one-off.
“We have been honest with ourselves and understood where we did wrong. And I’m confident that we’ll come back on the good slope.”
Aside from Vasseur’s positive influence, Leclerc also revealed the added pressure of operating under intense media scrutiny, a pitfall of being F1’s most recognizable and prestigious team.
“The fact that we are Ferrari in general, whenever something happens at Ferrari, it always creates more of a mess than in any other teams,” he said.
“And this is where we need to be good, that whenever we are in those moments, we just focus on ourselves, try to take the noise away, learn from it, and use it positively. But I hope that we don’t have too many of them.”
Asked about technical director Enrico Cardile’s departure to Aston Martin, Leclerc says he has complete trust in Vasseur to handle the loss.
“On that particular subject, I always had 200% confidence and trust in what Fred does,” he stated.
“Obviously Enrico left the team now. I know also that Fred won’t stay [interim] technical director for a very, very long time, and in the meantime, I fully trust Fred to manage the situation in the best possible way.
“I am fully confident as well that it won’t affect the team at the end. It’s more about the group than one particular person. Of course, it’s a situation that we need to fix as soon as possible. But Fred is on it.”
Ferrari started life under the current regulations as a regular contender for race wins, but a resurgence from both McLaren and Mercedes has seen the team slip to running as the third or fourth fastest car on most weekends.
The team has a 79-point cushion over fourth-place Mercedes in the Constructor’s Championship, thanks in part to George Russell’s disqualification in Belgium.
If recent form is anything to go by, Ferrari will be hard-pressed to hang onto third place.
Discussion about this post