Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur reveals who he discussed with before taking up position at Scuderia

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has said that it did not take long to respond to the offer to become the head of the Italian racing giants.

The former Alfa Romeo team principal replaced Mattia Binnoto at the helm of the Italian team after the latter was unable to deliver on his promise to bring glory to Maranello. Vasseur sais that he had to ask his wife and take her opinion before responding to the offer.

Speaking at a Friday press conference, Vasseur said:

"Honestly, I had to discuss it with my wife. Twenty-four hours."

He said that the passion and emotions at Ferrari are higher than he was ever seen in F1, adding:

"Yeah, I think that clearly there is more emotion and passion around Ferrari, but at the end of the day, I think all the racing teams are similar in the fact that we have the same DNA. It's all about technique and performance and continuous improvement and the approach is the same. Passion is a bit higher probably, but this is OK.

"I have to walk much less from the parking to the hospitality, first. But no, at the end of the day for sure the expectations are different. What we are doing, it's much more visible for everybody but honestly, I love the pressure and the target is to win and, it's a dream.

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"It's a good feeling for me to work with him" - Ferrari team boss on Charles Leclerc

Fred Vasseur had previously worked with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc during the latter's debut season in F1 in 2018 at Sauber.

The Frenchman said that working with Leclerc at the Italian team has been similar to their experience at Sauber. He said:

"He’s five years older, that he’s a bit more mature, a bit more confident about his feedback. But again, we are at the early stage of the collaboration, and I don't want to draw a conclusion too early. But the feeling is the same. And it's a good feeling for me to work with him.

"Carlos, I always try to get him with me in the past. And he never wanted to join me, so I had to do the reverse and join Carlos. But the feeling was always very good. I tried to sign him when I was at Renault and then at Sauber. And I think that we have mutual trust. And I'm convinced that he will do a very good job."

It will be interesting to see how Vasseur manages both Ferrari drivers during the 2023 season.