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When Fred Vasseur arrived at Ferrari, he set the tone in a way that was reflected in Lewis Hamilton’s win at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
While Vasseur didn’t want Ferrari getting carried away after Hamilton’s win, it’s hard to underscore just how important the result was for the driver and the team.
Now, with the Briton getting the team their first win in over 500 days, Vasseur may have to choose between Hamilton and Leclerc for the title of Ferrari’s lead driver.
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Hamilton showed he was back to his best during the win, but his performance was thanks in large part to a risky tyre strategy from Ferrari.
We’re not used to seeing Ferrari take such risks. Instead, we see them often reacting to other teams. However, their boldness can be traced back to a call from Fred Vasseur on their first day.
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Fred Vasseur banned newspapers and expert speculation on his first day at Ferrari
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Brazilian F1 reporter Julianne Cerasoli revealed that Fred Vasseur made sure that outside analysis and speculation was banned within Ferrari on his first day.
Vasseur made sure that Ferrari would make decisions based on their internal working, rather than adjust to what others around them are doing.
“On his first day at Ferrari, he went to his office, and there were all the newspapers from the day before, from the morning.
“He said, ‘From tomorrow onwards, I don’t want this. I don’t want to know what others are talking about this team. What matters is what is inside this team.’
“I think it leads to decisions like this. It leads to, ‘Let’s just do our best here and not be afraid of what the papers will say or what they are going to say in podcasts…’ It all comes together.
“And having Lewis, a guy who has won so much, telling the guys to just go for it and having a boss saying, ‘Okay, let’s go for it, if we fail we fail trying.’ Of course, they are also in a much better position than Mercedes to try something like that because they are far off from the championship.
“They don’t have power and that is still a problem. Nothing that happened today has made them have more power in their engine. It doesn’t solve their problem. But at least they got this first step. They’re on a different path than Mercedes.”
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Fred Vasseur could be playing mind games with Ferrari engine admission
ESPN’s Albert Fabrega, who was also on the podcast, suggested that Fred Vasseur is the first Ferrari chief to openly admit where Ferrari are lacking compared to other teams.
“I think that Fred Vasseur is the first team member of Ferrari who has said that the engine is not powerful enough. He’s been brave since the first race of the season by saying our engine is not powerful enough. I think that never happened before at Ferrari.”
Even with Vasseur’s job with Ferrari being at risk, the team principal is still partaking in gamesmanship to try to give the team an edge.
Hamilton has been grateful to Vasseur and Ferrari for the help and support they have shown him. And with his win yesterday, he paid back this support with a huge win for the team.
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