Ferrari boss claims the Maranello team will be 8 tenths faster in 2024 as they plan to catch Max Verstappen and Red Bull

This is Fred Vasseur's first year as Ferrari team principal and things didn't go as he would have expected it to go during the first part of the second. But he has claimed that in the second half of the season, Ferrari will be able to make a turnaround in their performance.

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The Scuderia had a difficult first half of the 2023 Formula 1 season. The Ferrari F1 team had finished second in both the Drivers' and Constructors' standings at the end of the 2022 championship. But they have swiftly dropped to fourth place on the grid, trailing not only Red Bull but also Mercedes and Aston Martin this year.

Speaking in an interview with Autosprint, Vasseur stated that his team will be making improvements in the upcoming races after the summer break.

"We have a development plan which tells us that our car will be two-tenths faster in September, another two in October, another four in 2024. We have our work plan and we cannot waste time synchronizing with that of the others, which between the other we do not know," he said

The Italian team has made good progress, which might be an indication of things to come in the second half of the year. They currently stand fourth in the Constructors Championship. Both Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz Jr are in fifth and seventh place in the drivers' standing respectively.

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Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur states there is room for improvement in the team

One of the main responsibilities on Vasseur's shoulders is to improve the team's structure internally. He has already made some big moves in his first year in Ferrari.

There are big voids that need to be filled as a result of the losses of two important team members. Racing director Laurent Mekies is set to join AlphaTauri and senior design engineer David Sanchez will move to McLaren.

"We will make some changes in the coming weeks, in the coming months, in the coming years, because some topics are a bit longer than some others. But it's a permanent evolution and permanent improvement." he said (via PlanetSport)

Loic Serra, Mercedes' performance director, has already signed up with Vasseur, though his start date is currently anticipated to be in 2025. Vasseur is currently recruiting more people to improve his team.