At the beginning of the 2023 season Ferrari’s reliability issues have proved to be their undoing once more.
Ferrari was anticipated to significantly improve this season and really contend for the championship after having a difficult season last year.
Strategic errors and reliability issues caused their 2022 title charge to falter, but it was anticipated that both of these issues would be resolved under Fred Vasseur’s new leadership. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, a power unit malfunction prompted Charles Leclerc to retire from the race while still in contention for the podium.
Leclerc, 25, finished last in the opening race of the season after the Scuderia modified his energy supply before the race and the new store also failed during the race.
According to recent reports, Leclerc has asked Ferrari president John Elkann for a crisis meeting since the Monegasque driver is extremely worried about how his season has started. Gazzetta has reported that things are not looking good at Ferrari, with tensions high back at Maranello.
During the Bahrain Grand Prix, a number of team personnel, including head of concept David Sanchez, left the team, and it has been claimed that many more employees are circulating their resumes in an effort to leave the Scuderia.
The friendship between Toto Wolff, the team head of Mercedes, and Fred Vasseur is another issue that has apparently irritated the Ferrari management. Vasseur, much to Ferrari’s displeasure, flew to Bahrain alongside his rival and spoke with the Austrian about the race.
According to the Gazzetta report, there is a significant contrast between Mattia Binotto and Fred Vasseur, particularly given Binotto’s engineering expertise, which has left several team members baffled and concerned. However, Vasseur’s position is not at risk despite all of Ferrari’s initial worries, as the Scuderia is aware of how frequently they have recently changed their team principal.
Vasseur’s primary goal at Ferrari will be to break the team’s championship drought, which began in 2007. Nevertheless, only time will tell if the Frenchman can turn Ferrari’s fortunes around.
