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You are famous for “speaking clearly”, something quite rare for a Team Principal, especially at Ferrari. We journalists appreciate it but has this caused you any problems with the fans?
“No, because I think the fans are very passionate and prefer frankness. When things are good or bad, you have to say it clearly. This allows me to have a frank relationship, which is very important.”
Often you did not hide your disappointment over retirements, technical problems or results. On those occasions, what is the most difficult thing?
“Being disappointed is normal. After a lot of work, and after doing everything to avoid it, having a technical or reliability problem leads to disappointment for both me and the entire team. It’s hard but you have to recognize that you did something that wasn’t right and at the same time you have to react, understand what the cause was in order to straighten out the situation and move forward.”
Once Raikkonen was asked what the worst moment of the race weekend was. He replied “now”. Tell him about it. It can also be aligned with Kimi…
“In a race weekend you cannot isolate a moment. It’s all part of a whole, I can’t extract a part of it and say this is easy, this isn’t. We have an objective, which is to achieve a sporting result through the track sessions, but we also know that all the surroundings are an integral part of this objective, therefore the part with the media, the events with our partners and everything else. The package must be taken in its entirety.”
After too many deaths, Enzo Ferrari no longer wanted Italian drivers (with some exceptions): “We get too attached – he said – and if a misfortune happens everyone feels too bad”. Sooner or later will we have our own driver in the Ferrari again?
“For me the nationality of the drivers is a secondary issue. Our goal is to have the best pair of riders, fastest, most technically prepared, who understand each other and work well together to achieve a result. The driver is a very important element in order to achieve the final objective, but his nationality may perhaps be relevant on certain occasions, but for me it remains a secondary element”.
In Sao Paulo, Ferrari nibbles away another four points from Mercedes in the championship, moving within twenty points of the gap with two races to go. But the mood in Maranello doesn’t seem to be the best. Is it just an impression?
“In Brazil we gained 4 points on Mercedes but above all we left Sao Paulo with the impression of having missed an opportunity. We had the pace and the ability to be able to gain more points on our rival and probably for this reason the atmosphere after the race wasn’t the best. But we must look at this fact as a positive dynamic because being disappointed despite having earned 4 points proves a mood positive and demonstrates our awareness that we can do much better. We missed an opportunity, it’s obvious that we were disappointed, but you always have to look at the positive aspects, even in negative moments.”
You are also famous for charging the team ahead of opportunities that might arise in the race. What are the right strings to touch?
“In a team we all live for competition and racing and we are always on edge in managing people’s motivation. We always need to find a happy medium in emotions. You can’t let yourself go and overreact one way or the other. We need to have the right approach and not amplify reactions. We all have ups and downs and you have to know how to manage them, whether in a team at the top of the championship who is having a good moment, or in a small team with a small problem. Each race presents many question marks, but in the end there is a good dynamic because we have achieved four poles in the last races and we can feel this as a team.”
Pros and cons of the SF-23?
“An advantage is clearly the lap performance and a flaw is the lack of consistency from one stint to the next, from one corner to the next. The potential is there, we need to extract it as best we can.”
Strengths and weaknesses of us journalists?
“(Fred laughs loudly) Education prevents me from answering! I think sometimes the media wants to draw definitive conclusions about certain details. Each course is a combination of various elements, such as mayonnaise, you can put the best ingredients but sometimes it turns out well, sometimes not. The same happens in races, sometimes small differences have striking effects in the end and you have to see things in the right dimension, without rushing to conclusions and judgements. For me it’s not a problem but I understand that it can have an effect on the people in the team who are perhaps at home, not on the track, and are exposed to considerations that are sometimes so imperative on this driver or this part of the car. As for the merits (Fred laughs again heartily) …I’m still looking for them!”.
Two strengths and two weaknesses of the fans?
“The enthusiasm! After a year of being at Ferrari I still can’t understand people’s enthusiasm. When we get the car ready, when we leave the Maranello factory… I find this enthusiasm to be magical and since the beginning of the year I have found only positive support. I have always found people who encourage us, who support us and push us to do better and hope that we win. Always with a positive sense.
Defects? Impossible to find it in people who have this approach.”
We are good with Ferrari: tell us just two advantages. What are the things you love most about his job?
“I am a racing fan, I have done nothing else in my life, and the challenge I have taken up is the most fascinating in the paddock, driving the Scuderia Ferrari.
The enthusiasm and passion is everywhere, it’s incredible!
Sometimes the excess of enthusiasm around the team is a little difficult to manage, because you have to keep people grounded and calm so that they can work well. The team has a Latin spirit and this amplifies all the emotions. But we saw it right in Singapore, after the victory. There was something magical about how we celebrated…”.
#Interviews #Vasseur #enthusiasm #fans #magical #FormulaPassion.it