Charles Leclerc Given Hopes of a Michael Schumacher-Like Future as Vasseur Given a Page Out of Todt’s Ferrari Playbook

Jean Todt is revered as one of the best team principals Ferrari has ever had. Under his leadership, and teamwork with Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher, the Prancing Horse had one of their most dominant runs. As Frederic Vasseur takes Mattia Binotto’s place, Charles Leclerc has been reassured of the success along the lines of Todt’s era.

Riding on his superior engineering laurels at Ferrari, Mattia Binotto landed the top job, replacing Maurizio Arrivabene. However, his 4 years sting did not reap any trophies and Binotto resigned in 2022. Even before Binotto tendered his resignation, rumors of Frederic Vasseur replacing him were doing the rounds of the internet.

Is Frederic Vasseur the right man to replicate Jean Todt’s feat?

Former F1 driver Giedo Van der Garde knows a thing or two about how Frederic Vasseur works. The Dutchman drove under Fred’s leadership during his time in Formula 3 Euro Series. Van der Garde praised his former boss and believes he is the right man to lead Ferrari to glory once again.

The Viaplay’s analyst during the preview of the Abu Dhabi GP said, “He is a man with experience and someone who knows how to lead a team. And he knows how to win a championship; that may not have happened in Formula 1 yet, but in all the other classes in which he has been active, he has operated successfully.” [Translated using Google]

Talking about Ferrari‘s strategic failures in 2022, Van der Garde told, “That’s something Vasseur will have to look at. But also about how communication between the engineers and the drivers goes, how the team is structured and how the culture is within the team.”

“That will take some time, but give him that time, because he can become the new Jean Todt when it comes to the successes he can achieve at Ferrari.”

Read More: Charles Leclerc Rues Missing Golden Opportunity While Pinning the Blame on Ferrari

Even before the whole Ferrari team principal saga began, a former McLaren engineer opened up on the situation. He talked about how much pressure Ferrari bosses have to endure.

Marc Priestley believed Ferrari is too “Italian”

Last month Marc Priestley appeared for an interview for the podcast In the Fast Lane: F1 and MotoGP. Priestley there explained how Ferrari is almost a national team in Italy and therefore the Italian team bosses are under constant pressure. He pinned the blame for their lack of success on the team being too Italian.

“I hate to pin this on being too Italian, it’s the wrong way to say it. But if you see the last period of Ferrari dominance, the team was run by Europeans that weren’t Italians.”

“They are an Italian team. They’re almost a national team. The pressure as an Italian from the inside that organization, from media, the fans must be extraordinary.”

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Do you think Fred Vasseur can guide Ferrari to championship victories? Will his presence be powerful enough to assure Charles Leclerc of success in the future?