Mattia Binotto has given notice to Ferrari, the Italians are looking for a successor as team boss of the most famous racing team in the world. The solution is obvious: Frédéric Vasseur.
After the initial excitement about Mattia Binotto’s resignation, the logical question is: what now? Who should lead Ferrari to the first drivers’ world title since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007? Who’s first Constructors’ Cup win since 2008?
While some in Italy dream of Ross Brawn’s return and others were convinced that Andreas Seidl (McLaren) or even Christian Horner (Red Bull Racing) could lure people to Maranello, the solution is obvious – it’s called Frédéric Vasseur.
What speaks in favor of the Frenchman, who is now team boss at Alfa Romeo and also works as managing director of Sauber Motorsport AG? He proved at Renault (now Alpine) that he can run a factory racing team. He only left his compatriots because manager Cyril Abiteboul preferred to be in the limelight himself as team boss.
Vasseur has helped Alfa Romeo improve to sixth place in the 2022 Constructors’ Cup and helped pave the way for Audi’s entry into Formula 1. He is known as a team player who can listen, love for the sport is obvious and he has plenty of experience. He moves on the delicate political stage of the premier class with a smile on his face and a good deal of callousness. Very important: He is close friends with Ferrari star Charles Leclerc.
The 54-year-old from Draveil in northern France will find it difficult to resist the call from Maranello. Be honest: it’s not just racing drivers who dream of working for Ferrari. In addition: If Vasseur stayed with Sauber (Alfa Romeo will leave at the end of 2023), no one can guarantee that Audi will not want to put its own people at the helm.
Frédéric “Fred” Vasseur studied aerospace engineering before founding a racing team (ASM) and was immediately successful – national title in the French Formula 3 in 1998 with the Belgian David Saelens, then four triumphs in a row in the F3 Euro Series , starring Jamie Green, Lewis Hamilton, Paul di Resta and Romain Grosjean.
In 2004, ASM became ART Grand Prix in cooperation with Nicholas Todt (the son of former Ferrari boss and later FIA President Jean Todt). And the successes continued: Four titles in the GP2 series (equivalent to today’s Formula 2) – with Nico Rosberg 2005, Lewis Hamilton 2006, Nico Hülkenberg 2009 and Stoffel Vandoorne 2015.
In the GP3 series, these ART drivers won the title: Esteban Gutiérrez 2010, Valtteri Bottas 2011, Esteban Ocon 2015, Charles Leclerc 2016, George Russell 2017 as well as Anthoine Hubert 2018, in the new Formula 3 since 2019 won last season In 2022 the Frenchman Victor Martins won the title with ART.
In Formula 2, ART triumphed with George Russell in 2018 and Nyck de Vries in 2019. All of the drivers named made the leap into Formula 1, four have won Grands Prix.
Abu Dhabi-GP, Yas Island
01. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:27:45,914 h
02. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +8,771
03. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +10,093
04. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, +24,892
05. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +35,888
06. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +56.234
07. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +57,240
08. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +76,931
09. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), McLaren, +83,268
10. Sebastian Vettel (D), Aston Martin, +83,898
11. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, +89,371
12. Guanyu Zhou (RC), Alfa Romeo, +1 Runde
13. Alex Albon (T), Williams, +1
14. Pierre Gasly (F), AlphaTauri, +1
15. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, +1
16. Mick Schumacher (D), Haas, +1
17. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +1
18. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +3 laps
19. Nicholas Latifi (CDN), Williams, +3
Out
Fernando Alonso (E), Alpine, Wasserleck
World Championship final score (after 22 of 22 races)
driver
01. Verstappen 454 points
02. Leclerc 308
03. Pérez 305
04. Russell 275
05. Sainz 246
06. Hamilton 240
07. Norris 122
08.Ocon 92
09. Alonso 81
10. Bottas 49
11. Ricciardo 37
12. Vettel 37
13. Magnussen 25
14. Gasly 23
15. Stroll 18
16. Schumacher 12
17. Tsunoda 12
18. Zhou 6
19. Albon 4
20. Latif 2
21. De Vries 2
22. Nico Hülkenberg (D) 0
Constructors’ Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 759 Punkte
02. Ferrari 554
03. Mercedes 515
04. Alpine 173
05. McLaren 159
06. Alfa Romeo 55
07. Aston Martin 55
08. Haas 37
09. Alpha Tauri 35
10. Williams 8