In December Ferrari announced the farewell to Mattia Binotto and the arrival at the helm of the team of the ‘Prancing Horse’ of the French Frédéric Vasseur, it seems a rather favorable move for a Charles Leclerc who had ups and downs with Binotto. Here comes a man who gave the Monegasque the opportunity to debut and grow in his early years in F1 at Alfa Romeo and also established a powerful group of lower categories (ART GP) with Jean Todt’s son, Nicholas, now is Leclerc’s manager. It is a signing that could strengthen the ‘Principino’, but Carlos, who in December, was calm after talking with Vasseur and the boss of the team himself managed to clarify how much he always appreciates and pursues the talent of Carlos Sainz . This was explained by the new Ferrari boss yesterday, in his first press appearance in front of a group of around 30 international media via videoconference, including Mundo Deportivo.
He was seen relaxed, happy, cheerful, away from the pressure that many may assume due to the size of the challenge. He was even seen doing a lot of pranks. One of them, to MD, showing his “surprise” at being asked about Sainz by a Spanish media. There began her explanation about her relationship with the man from Madrid.
“I started talking to Carlos Sainz and his entourage when I was at Renault to sign him and sign a contract and when I was at Sauber I tried to sign Carlos again, but without success. So I said, ‘the best way is to join whatever team I’m on,'” he laughed jokingly. “We have always had a very good relationship, I trust him and I have seen him in recent years that he is a potential winner. This is important for the team, but again, we don’t have a number 1 or number 2 driver. The organization is clear. We have to do the job and in a moment we will have to bet on Carlos or Charles”, he repeated, because Leclerc and Sainz that they will start the year in the same position.
“Both have the ability to do the job, we have the ability to provide the same car and the same support, but clearly the goal is to win with Ferrari and for Ferrari. So there is no number 1 or number 2, but if at any point we have to act , we’ll do it. It doesn’t matter if it’s one or the other, but if at some point in time I have to do something, I’ll do it,” he added.
He assured that it would be “arrogant” on his part to assess Ferrari’s failures last year and said that “after two weeks since his arrival” he is still looking for answers about everything that happened last year to improve the team. He was not known as a powerful boss from the start nor did he show a willingness to impose drastic changes or ‘cut off heads’. For now, the profile of the analyst looking to continue to improve in all areas. Of course, the goal was clear from the beginning: “it’s a clear goal. When you’re here, the only thing that matters is winning. I think we have to do a good job and our goal should be to win, of course.” And he repeated it to MD: “Beating Red Bull in my first year? Like I said, the goal is to win the World Cup. If you want to win the World Cup, you have to beat Red Bull.”
Mistakes in various areas over the years
“Thank you for doing my job (laughs), the analysis. I joined the team two weeks ago. As you can imagine, it is a very long process, but I think that a good job has been done in the last few months. The development? It’s a strategic decision, because now with the budget limit you have to decide if you want to be more focused on next year’s car or the current one, but it’s not there and I don’t want to make those judging something from the past. his strategy, many times when we talk about strategies or strategists, we only see the tip of the iceberg, the tip, and many times it’s a matter of communication , how communication flows through the wall and we are in the process of seeing everything. make various improvements”.
“We have to avoid being focused on the end of the pyramid. Usually when you talk about strategy you’re referring to the person on the wall, but you have to try to understand what’s going on and understand the mistakes and understand if it’s a matter of the decisions, the organization, of communication… many times, mistakes are due to communication problems and the number of people in them, and more than an individual mistake, it is because too many people argue about in the same things and when you finish, the car is on the next lap… We need to have clear and continuous communication between the right people, placed in the right positions, of course, but the job is underway.”
“I don’t want to be arrogant in judging what happened in the past. I do not know. The most difficult part of my job is to understand what happened to the team in order to have a clear analysis and action. Trust me when I say it was an incredible challenge.”
There is no change in the initial technical organization
“No, because it would be arrogant of me to act in the technical organization after two weeks (since he arrived at Ferrari). We are in discussions, trying to understand what happened to do a better job, but this is more of a continuous improvement than big changes that from my point of view will not make sense. I believe in the people there and we will try to get the best of them and the best conditions for a better job” .
Leclerc’s renewal is not his priority right now
“I joined Ferrari two weeks ago and I think we still have months of contract with Charles (the contract expires at the end of 2024) so I don’t want to put this issue on the table now. To start our collaboration right we have to be focused on the sporting side, fighting to win. I don’t think it is the priority right now, we have a good relationship and we’ll have time to talk about them. But first we have to be focused on our performance and getting results.”
30 more engine horsepower in 2023?
“As for the engine, the numbers… I don’t know where they came from. Last year, engine performance wasn’t the problem, it was reliability and the first goal was to solve it. It looks good, but Reliability on the track is another thing, because problems can come from potholes, vibrations and many things and we will have a clearer picture in Bahrain. Something more than two weeks (laughs)”.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
