"Ferrari can have a say in the title next season" - Fred Vasseur's move to Italian team prompts upbeat prediction from Romain Grosjean

Ferrari could have a say in the 2023 title fight under Fred Vasseur, claims former driver Romain Grosjean. The Italian team recently hired former Alfa Romeo man Frederic Vasseur as their team principal for 2023 following Mattia Binotto's resignation.

Grosjean has faith in his former boss, having won the 2007 Formula 3 under Vasseur before joining F1. Leading the Scuderia is obviously one of the biggest jobs in the sport, but Grosjean believes Vasseur is the man for the job and is a suitable successor to Binotto.

Mattia Binotto resigned from the team after failing to lead the Maranello-based squad to success despite having a competent car. Fred Vasseur also shares a special bond with Charles Leclerc as the Frenchman was the Alfa Romeo team principal when Leclerc entered the sport.

Romain Grosjean spoke of the new Scuderia boss to La Gazzetta dello Sport:

“Ferrari is a huge challenge for anyone. But I am convinced that Fred is up to the task. He is close friends with Charles Leclerc, which should help the atmosphere, and he also knows Carlos Sainz very well. Ferrari had a very good car in 2022. Unfortunately, the team leadership was not so good. I believe that Ferrari can have a say in the title next season.”

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Ferrari needs to be better at executing races, claims Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz feels there aren't any drastic changes that need to be made by the Scuderia to provide better competition at the front of the grid. However, the Spaniard believes the team needs to do a better job at executing their strategy in 2023.

The 2022 F1 season started with the Italian team as the frontrunner. The team was able to win two of the first three races via Sainz's teammate, Charles Leclerc. At that point, the Scuderia seemed to be the runaway favorites for the title.

However, their title dreams soon fell away after a string of reliability and strategic issues later on in the season. These issues, coupled with brilliant performances by Max Verstappen, gave Red Bull a clear lead at the midway point in 2022.

When asked by Sky Sports about what he felt were the areas where Ferrari needed to improve, Carlos Sainz stressed the importance of better execution. He said:

"I think it's very simple. I think we need to be better at executing races, whether that's the start like, for example, me. This year, we've had a problem with an inherent problem in the car that doesn't allow us to start well. I had a problem in the clutch all weekend [in Abu Dhabi] and it cost me a position to Lewis [Hamilton], which meant then I had five seconds, six seconds of race time that I lost in that crazy fight I had with him."

Now, with Mattia Binotto having resigned as team principal, the Tifosi are hoping for greater success under their new boss Fred Vasseur.