Fred Vasseur reveals what immediately surprised him about Ferrari when he took over as team boss

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Fred Vasseur is working hard to convince everyone at Ferrari that they can make a difference, especially after the team’s initial hesitancy caught him off guard when he took over in 2022.

Ferrari brought in Vasseur as their new team principal in December 2022 following Mattia Binotto’s resignation. Binotto stepped down after nearly three decades at Maranello, including four years leading the team, having been unable to sustain a title challenge during the start of Formula 1’s ground-effect era.

Since then, Vasseur has been steadily making changes as he tries to steer Ferrari back to the top of F1. The team hasn’t won a drivers’ championship since Kimi Raikkonen did it in 2007, and their last constructors’ title came back in 2008.

Fred Vasseur noticed Ferrari’s cautious culture right away

Ferrari and Vasseur still have their sights set on a title run at the start of F1’s 2026 regulations era, and they’re currently sitting second behind Mercedes in the standings. Charles Leclerc holds third place in the drivers’ standings but already trails Andrea Kimi Antonelli by 41 points after just four races.

One of the most notable changes under Vasseur has been the shift toward a more relaxed atmosphere at Maranello, something Ferrari hasn’t always been known for. This new environment has encouraged engineers to take more risks with their work.

“It’s not that there was a culture of fear or blame or whatever, but maybe it was a bit on the back foot,” Vasseur told The Race. “The first thing that shocked me when I joined was the gap that we had on every single topic, just because we didn’t want to be exposed.”

Vasseur has continued to reassure staff that even small decisions can add up over a season. He explained how tiny adjustments, an extra kilo here, half a litre there, added up to two-tenths per lap, which can be huge over an F1 calendar.