If Mercedes believed Ferrari had put all their eggs in the F1 2024 basket by now, Fred Vasseur has issued the call to attack.
F1 2023 has been a story of disappointment for both Mercedes and Ferrari, who entered the season with the goal of returning to the title picture.
Instead, Red Bull has only grown more dominating, winning 15 of the 16 races so far, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz inflicting the sole wound by winning in Singapore as Red Bull were unable to repair the damage caused by their qualifying troubles.
With both teams well out of contention for the championship, Mercedes and Ferrari might be forgiven for foregoing a battle for second place in the Constructors’ Championship and focusing all of their efforts on F1 2024.
However, with Mercedes holding that position, 20 points ahead of Ferrari, such a reprieve will not be granted, with team manager Vasseur seeing no benefit in doing so.
“You don’t have to postpone the fight, the fight is with Mercedes today, and we have to take it,” Vasseur stated.
“It’s always the best way to prepare for the future, for the team’s mindset, for everyone to be in the fight.” And we will fight till the end of the season.
“There is never a sacrifice because I believe that performance comes from performance.” It’s too late for this season to get into the wind tunnel, but what we can accomplish with the present car will benefit us next year.”
The most recent round in Japan saw Ferrari bring upgrades for the SF-23 in the form of a new floor, but it was McLaren who led the ‘best of the rest’ battle, with Lando Norris crossing the line P2 and Oscar Piastri P3, Piastri’s first F1 podium and McLaren’s maiden double podium of the season.
The margins are small, with less than a tenth separating Norris, Piastri, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the end of qualifying at Suzuka, and Vasseur expects the rest of the F1 2023 tale will be “a matter of hundredths.”
“We have also to avoid drawing too quick conclusions,” he went on. “We were in good shape before the break in Spa, but Charles started fourth.” He was supposed to be on the front row, but he began from pole position and raced well.
“Because it’s a matter of hundredths of seconds, when you take a small step, you get the impression that everything has changed.”
“It’s not exactly the reality, and it varies from race to race and track to track.” Even the drivers’ setups are sometimes more suited to Carlos or Charles.
“It’s a sport, and you can accept that one team is doing a better job than the others from weekend to weekend.” And I believe we have healthy competition, which is also helping us to progress.”
At Suzuka, Ferrari gained headway on Mercedes, with Leclerc finishing P4 and a spot ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while Sainz ran out of laps after passing the lead Mercedes after clearing George Russell.
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