Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur receives support from the Italian journalist, "He is the right man"

Italian F1 journalist Roberto Chinchero feels Ferrari's new team principal, Frederic Vasseur, is the right person to steer the team back to glory.

Being the team boss of F1's most successful team is one of the most difficult challenges. Though Vasseur struggled a bit as the Italian giants underperformed at the start of the 2023 F1 season, Chinchero feels he will stabilize and start pushing the team forward.

Speaking on the "F1 Nation" podcast, the Italian journalist initially explained how complicated it is to guide Ferrari and make decisions. When he spoke with Vasseur after the Miami GP, he was surprised to hear that the atmosphere in the team was much better, even after a poor first race in the US.

Chinchero said:

"When you arrive in Ferrari, you spend a lot of time to understand how the team works. And probably is different than comparing to the other team in Formula One. It's a little bit more complicated.

"Of course, it was not easy for him because the first races, the attempt as Ferrari team principal were not so good for the team, the result was not the result we expected.

"So there is some pressure, but at the same time, especially in Miami, speaking with Fred, he said that now the atmosphere in the team is much better than in March. And that surprised me a little bit.

"Honestly, I don't know what's going to happen after Miami because Miami was very tough weekend for the team."

Later, Chinchero praised Vasseur and opined that he was the right person to lead Ferrari forward.

"So it's not easy for Fred to manage this situation, but he's the right person because he doesn't need to prove anything, it's his challenge. From this point of view, I think he's more solid person compared to others," the journalist said.

"He accepts this challenge is tough, but at the same time, I think that he's not... The story of his life in this challenge with Ferrari. And so I think he should be good in the long term."

---

Charles Leclerc admits Ferrari does not have any secret weapon to beat Red Bull

Charles Leclerc conceded to the unprecedented race pace of Red Bull and stated that Ferrari does not have any tricks up its sleeve to close the gap. He explained how the pace of the SF-23 is great over one lap, but the car simply falls behind during the main race.

As per RacingNews365, Leclerc said:

"In terms of race pace, I don't think we have any miracle in hand to close the gap. I don't think we will be much closer [to Red Bull]. The feeling is pretty good over one lap, but in the race, we are so far behind Red Bull, who are in a league of their own.

"In the race, we definitely have a lot of time to find, but in qualifying pace, we are more or less there."

The difference between qualifying and race pace was evident during the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP. Though Leclerc stood on both pole positions for the sprint and main race, he was dominated by both Red Bull drivers during the race. This proved how quick the RB19 is compared to the SF-23 in a race.