"I think Fred Vasseur has to rely very much on Laurent Mekies" - Former Scuderia Ferrari driver Jean Alesi ahead of the new season

Former Scuderia Ferrari racer Jean Alesi has identified the person new team principal Frederic Vasseur should lean heavily upon in the 2023 F1 season.

Vasseur replaced Mattia Binotto at the start of the year, becoming the first non-Italian to head the team since Jean Todt in 2007. Despite having an extensive background in motorsports, Alesi believes Vasseur should take Sporting Director Laurent Mekies' support in the upcoming season.

He told Italy’s Autosprint:

“I think Vasseur has to rely very much on Laurent Mekies. Mekies has been at Ferrari for years and he can be the ideal person for Vasseur to see where things need to be changed and what, on the contrary, should stay the same because there is potential.”

The 58-year-old, who raced for the team in the early 1990s, has also warned Vasseur of attempting to make cultural changes to take the Prancing Horse out of an Italian mindset. He said:

“If you tell me that Ferrari is going to speak or should speak more and more French, I will say no immediately. Maranello is Italian. One has to speak Italian and only Italian. I once drove for the Scuderia and there I experienced the very best moments of my career.”

The 1995 Canadian Grand Prix winner is hoping for better performances from the team this year after an “unwatchable” 2022 campaign. He said:

“Let’s be honest, on the tactical front, Ferrari was unwatchable last year. Things definitely need to change, otherwise there is no way out for the team.”

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Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur speaks highly of current F1 regulations

Meanwhile, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is in favor of the current F1 regulations. The 2022 season saw the introduction of new technical regulations that have brought ground effect back to Formula 1.

Vassuer believes that the sport is going in the right direction. He said:

"All of these are going in the direction of the convergence of performance. Even the fact the engines are frozen means F1 is going toward a tighter championship fight, and it is working. Teams were spread out about five per cent in qualifying performance in 2017 and 2018, and now most teams are within two per cent."

He added:

"In 2022, five teams were within a one per cent performance margin between them. It will be a fantastic sport if F1 maintains these regulations for a while."