'We are in line': Fred Vasseur remains confident about Ferrari's prospects this F1 season 

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has remained steadfast about the team's prospects this F1 season. In the last week since the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP, there have been multiple reports around the Italian team ranging from the exodus of multiple experienced engineers to a power battle within the team.

It has been reported that Vasseur does not hold substantial power within the team as compared to his counterparts. There have been other reports that have claimed there is a rather negative environment at Ferrari.

Most importantly though, many have written off the Italian team after the deficit to Red Bull at the first race of the season.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur came down hard on these suggestions in a recent interview with the French publication Auto Hebdo.

The former Alfa Romeo boss questioned why the team has become a target after just one race in the season. He stated that the team was happy with the correlations between the simulator and the track and said:

"I find it difficult to understand why the team becomes a target after only one race. As far as the correlation between the simulation and the track is concerned, we are in line."

"That's why I asked everyone to stay focused on performance and find solutions to reliability issues because the championship is long. Just because you don't win the first one doesn't mean you're offside. Bahrain was bad in some ways and good in others!'

Ferrari struggling due to an exodus of talent?

If reports are to be believed, then the Italian team appears to be struggling from an exodus of talent. Key personnel, including David Sanchez, have left the team or are on their way out of the door.

According to reports from various credible Italian publications, there is an environment of fear within the team since Mattia Binotto left.

To add to this, the power struggle between Benedetto Vigna, the Ferrari CEO, and the team principal Fred Vasseur has become a major topic of discussion. Ever since Michael Schumacher retired from the sport for the first time in 2006, these issues have been common at the Italian brand.

Constant in-fighting was one of the major concerns that Sebastian Vettel had to tackle during his 2018 F1 campaign, where the power struggle at the top cost Maurizio Arrivabene his job.

It does appear that history continues to repeat itself as the major political upheaval will more or less drag Ferrari's 2023 F1 campaign to the ground.