Fred Wasser explains the challenge of hiring a Ferrari that F1 rivals Red Bull and Mercedes do not face | F1 News

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Fred Fassier tells Sky Sports F1 about the recruitment challenges he faces as he seeks to revive Ferrari; Vasseur acknowledges that Ferrari’s presence in Italy could affect personnel negotiations; The Frenchman also bemoans the length of F1’s gardening sabbatical which is delaying the rebuilding process

6:11, UK, Thursday 22nd June 2023

Fred Vasser has opened up about the challenges he faces trying to lure Formula 1’s best brains to Ferrari as he seeks to revive the Italian team.

Vasseur replaced Mattia Binotto as Ferrari team principal at the start of the year but faced a difficult first season with an inconsistent SF23 car that proved a handful for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in several races.

The Frenchman has also had to contend with a number of key personnel being poached by other teams, including head of concept car David Sanchez being signed by McLaren while sporting director Laurent Miques is leaving to become AlphaTauri team principal.

Vasser says Ferrari is “recruiting a lot” itself and the addition of a big unknown name will be announced “soon”, but admits Ferrari’s presence in Italy – one of four F1 teams based outside the UK – could be a hurdle in the process.

“It’s not the same situation – you can go from Red Bull to Mercedes, keep the same hours, keep the kids in the same school, from Friday to Monday you change and everything is fine,” Vasseur told Sky Sports Formula 1’s Rachel Brooks. at the Canadian Grand Prix.

“If you want to come to Italy, it’s a different approach. You have to change the family environment and so on.

“But once you’re in Italy, I think it’s hard to leave – the food is so much better and the quality of life in Italy is phenomenal.

“Sometimes it can play into discussions because they have to move beds, it depends on the condition of the kids, it’s not always easy but once we can get someone they stay.

“I had the same situation at Sauber, it was difficult to ask them to come, but once they got to Switzerland, they stayed in Switzerland.”

Ferrari has made life as difficult as possible for Martin Brundle as he tries to investigate if there are any problems with Charles Leclerc’s car! Vasser bemoans the timeframes for employment in Formula 1

Ferrari have not won a world championship since claiming the constructors’ title in 2008 and have seen their challenge fade in the second half of 2022 while they have been in no competition at all this year as Red Bull pulled away from the field.

Vasser says he spends a large part of his time bringing in new staff to turn around Ferrari’s fortunes, but warns that the duration of ‘gardening leave’ on F1 contracts means it will be years before top signings can join and influence the team.

He said, “I joined two months ago, you have to understand what the situation is before you start recruiting.

“This process is long, they will join in 12 or 24 months and even the recruitment process is not day to day, it means we are in the middle of this but it will arrive soon.

Highlights of the Canadian Grand Prix, the eighth race of the season

Staffing is where F1 is never agile.

“It means that if you have a project, if you want to work with people, if you want to change the structure of the department – don’t talk about Ferrari, in general – it takes months to understand what you want to do, find the right people and then months or years to get them involved.” .

“That means you sometimes talk about years more than you talk about races.

“Sometimes it can be frustrating because you’re paying like hell, I’m probably spending two-thirds of my time on hiring and we’re signing a contract for the end of 2024 in the best-case scenario, maybe 2025.”

Vasseur on Newey links: ‘The weight of the group is greater than the weight of the individual’ Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey admitted he gave serious interest to joining Ferrari twice in the 1990s.

Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey has been linked to Ferrari on multiple occasions, and the design expert revealed at the Spanish Grand Prix that he twice turned down ways to join the Italian team in the 1990s.

Vasseur has been shy about whether he would take a new approach for Newey – who recently signed a new contract at Red Bull – to join the rebuild at Ferrari but believes the entire workforce is more important than just the big-name signings.

“You have all the big names of F1. I get asked a lot about Max, Lewis, the chief engineers etc. Absolutely. [you would want them] But in the end it is not like that, in the end you have to understand where you are weak and not you and try to improve step by step.

“I’m not sure the big names in F1, if they’re not part of the project from the start, do they add value? If they come into the team and want to change everything, you’re talking about two or three years extra two or three years but it would be too long.

“I think we have a good structure. We definitely have to strengthen the team as we go down this path but it’s not just about the big names.

“In today’s big teams, we’re about 1,000 [employees] And I am convinced that the weight of the group is much more important than the weight of the individual.

Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz reflects that the history of the Canadian Grand Prix does not mean Ferrari deserves to win

Ferrari is the most successful team in Formula 1 having secured 16 Constructors’ Championships, 15 Drivers’ Championships and 241 race wins.

But amid the current world championship drought, Vasseur stressed that Ferrari’s historic success does not mean there can be a winning mentality.

“It’s not always helpful to think that because you’re a Ferrari things will come to you,” Vasseur said.

“Business is not like that at all. This means that if you want something you have to pay for it.

“But I don’t think it’s a team issue, they’re all pushing hard, they’re all trying to do their best and maybe it’s more of an expectation from the outside ‘It’s Ferrari, they have to win’.”

Red Bull are looking to continue their profitable run in 2023 as they return to their home track at the Austrian Grand Prix – watch live on Sky Sports F1 from 30 June to 2 July.

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