2024 Formula 1: Who are the drivers and team principal for Ferrari F1?
After finishing a distant second in last year’s Formula 1 season, Ferrari hopes for a better 2024. They are banking on Fred Vasseur to shake things up.
Ferrari had a slow start to the 2023 Formula 1 season, with the team and its drivers not finding a good rhythm and winning races, primarily due to a combination of costly pilot errors, mistakes in strategy, and technical problems with the cars.
The team still managed to clinch third place in the constructor’s championship, but Leclerc’s fifth-spot finish left a bitter taste in the mouth. He began the year as a serious rival to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, only to falter as the season went by, finishing at the end behind Perez, Hamilton, and Alonso as well.
Ferrari hired Fred Vasseur, formerly of Alfa Romeo, to replace their team principal, Mattia Binotto, after he resigned at the end of 2022. However, the transition did not go as planned. At the end of the season, Ferrari made a big time-bomb announcement by signing the seven-time World champion, Lewis Hamilton, for the 2025 season.
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Fred Vasseur
Frederic Vasseur is a French motorsport engineer who previously worked as the team principal for Renault before moving to Alfa Romeo. He has recently started his tenure with Scuderia Ferrari and is cautiously optimistic about the team’s future. He did not offer any predictions on how the team will perform in the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is the opening race of the season, as they are still getting familiarized with the car. Despite this, Vasseur emphasizes that the team is still in a good position to start the year and is upbeat. He also emphasizes that Ferrari is a top team and will not settle for third place. They aim to be champions.
Charles Leclerc
Leclerc ended last year with 206 points to Verstappen’s 575 to finish fifth overall, behind the Red Bull, Mercedes, and Alfa Romeo drivers.
The 26-year-old’s talent was apparent as he made five pole positions throughout 2023, but these did not translate to wins as he finished with zero wins and six podiums.
Carlos Sainz
During the 2023 Formula One season, Carlos Sainz competed in 22 rounds and scored 200 points. He finished in the 8th position in the Drivers’ Championship, with only a six-point gap with his teammate. Although he faced difficulties and had three DNFs, it was still a positive year for the Ferrari driver. Sainz performed exceptionally well by securing three podium finishes and two pole positions. Unlike his teammate Leclerc, Sainz could convert his pole positions into race podiums. It will be a difficult time for the Spanish driver now that Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari the next season is confirmed.