Ferrari CEO reassures Le Mans success does not mean the Italian brand moves away from Formula 1

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna reassures that the Italian brand is still very much focused on F1. After their team competed in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans after entering the race after 50 years, many started discussing how the WEC team of the brand is much better than their team in F1. However, Vigna is focused on improving the brand in all motorsports.

After the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, Eurosport asked Vigna whether the Italian brand would slightly move away from F1 and focus more on other motorsport series.

The Ferrari CEO stated how racing is in the brand's DNA and how it continues to invest in WEC since the concepts can be translated into their road cars as well.

He stated that he has other serious matters to look into rather than stressing too much about the team's start in F1. Finally, he explained that the aim of the brand is to make a car that is an improvement over another, in whatever the company does.

“Racing is in the DNA of our company,” Vigna begins. “We continue to invest in this because we can implement many of these techniques in our normal cars. Was the start of the Formula 1 season stressful for me? You know, I have more serious things to worry about. For the team, this is an important opportunity to improve and learn. We have to make a car that is better than the last one, but that applies to everything we do.”

Ferrari is currently suffering quite a lot in F1. They are fourth in the constructors championship, but they are already being chased by Alpine from behind. The SF-23 still has loads of unknown issues that the team is simply unable to pinpoint.

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F1 pundit feels Ferrari CEO played a role in the SF-23's inconsistency in corners

Le Mans 24 Hour Race

F1 pundit Mark Hughes recently published a piece in Motorsport magazine after the 2023 F1 Spanish GP where he spoke about Ferrari's lack of performance. He stated how fast corners were not the SF-23's strong suit; rather, it has good straight-line speed.

He wrote:

“Fast corners are not the car’s forte. Last year they were but there was a deliberate trade-off of that for straight-line speed with this car. That seemed a questionable shift when they announced it at the launch and even more so now."

Hughes then told a rumor that the brand's CEO, Benedetto Vigna, did not like that the 2022 car was slower than Red Bull's on the straights, and it does not sit well with the Italian brand's image. Hence, he urged the team to improve the straight-line speed, which could have affected other areas of the car.

F1 pundit added:

“There’s a story it was because the boss Benedetto Vigna didn’t like the idea that the Ferrari was always slower on the straight than the Red Bull last year, that it was ‘inappropriate’ for Ferrari’s image."

Both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have complained about the car and looked concerned regarding the performance of the team.