Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur warned of 'incredibly tough job' to turn the Scuderia around by former F1 driver

Former F1 driver Mark Blundell believes Fred Vasseur will have a tough time turning Scuderia Ferrari into Championship winners. Blundell hopes to see the Italian team win championships but added that it won't be an overnight job.

The former McLaren driver said in an interview with PlanetF1.com:

“It would be an incredibly tough job for anyone to go in and turn that place around quickly, but I’d just love to see Ferrari hit the front of the grid and doing what they do. I’d like to see the drivers being able to take the championship in a Ferrari because I think it will be great for the sport.”

The Italian team delivered on their promise to produce a competitive car in 2022, but endless reliability issues and strategic blunders ruined their pursuit of the championship. The incompetencies of the trackside team allowed Red Bull and Max Verstappen to win the championship by a comprehensive margin.

Following the end of their dismal 2022 campaign, team principal Mattia Binotto announced his resignation. As anticipated by many, Fred Vasseur was later announced as Binotto’s replacement.

Fred Vasseur joined F1 as the team principal of Renault in 2016. A year later, the Frenchman was appointed as the team principal of Sauber (now Alfa Romeo).

Blundell believes Vasseur is qualified to lead the team, but warned that the Scuderia job is extremely different.

Mark Blundell said:

“Pedigree-wise, he’s incredibly strong in that leadership, but the leadership of a mid-grid Formula 1 team and then the leadership of someone like Ferrari is quite a different challenge.”

"It’s such a big name and such a big focal point for anybody who looks at Formula 1, it comes with a huge amount of pressure, and being an Italian team of that credibility and that sort of awareness for everyone in the world and having to deliver weekend in, weekend out, it’s always going to bring a lot of pressure with it."

The last time a Frenchman led the team from Maranello, they enjoyed great success dominating F1 in the early 2000s.

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Both Ferrari drivers, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, are aiming for the title

Ferrari launched their 2023 challenger SF-23 on February 14. The launch event was held at the Fiorano track in Maranello, Italy.

At the event, both drivers gave their opinions on the intra-team battle.

The Spaniard said:

"It's normally pretty tight, but I will always try and be faster. He will always try and be faster."

Leclerc added:

“We will push each other until the end, for sure.”

SF-23 is expected to be faster than its predecessor, giving both drivers a genuine shot at winning the championship.