Renowned Italian Journalist Shakes Frederic Vasseur From Slumber as Mattia Binotto’s “Cursed Gift” Retires

Another year, another disappointment for Ferrari. The team that looked like championship contenders at the start of the 2022 season, fell further below in the current campaign after failing to secure P2 in the constructors in 2023. After the major overhaul last winter, will yet another failed season put Frederic Vasseur‘s future at Ferrari in question? Not so soon!

According to renowned Italian journalist Leo Turrini, the Frenchman will still have time to change the perspective around him. According to Turrini, Vasseur was still dealing with the curse his predecessor Mattia Binotto left for him at Ferrari. However, for 2024, Vasseur will need to prove his mettle.

Frederic Vasseur will have to prove his worth in 2024 with the curse of Mattia Bintto behind him

The ex-Ferrari boss had a lot of influence on the team thanks to his long-term partnership with the Italian outfit. So when Vasseur took the reigns, he was steering a ship that was essentially put on a path by Binotto. As mentioned in his blog on QN Motori, this is the only excuse for Vasseur for the failed 2023 campaign. From 2024 onwards, he will be solely responsible for everything.

“The real question that 2024 will have to answer concerns Fred Vasseur. 2023 cannot be blamed on him. The French country priest arrived after the deadline, with his car already ready and with a staff that was that of Mattia Binotto. From next season, alibis will be zero. I think Vasseur knows this perfectly. Ferrari is Ferrari. He gives a lot, but he also demands a lot. Best wishes to Fred,” Turrini wrote. [translated via Google]

The 2024 challenger will all have been developed under Vasseur’s vision & direction. Thus, anything that the Scuderia fumbles upon next season will be scrutinized as Vasseur’s failure, unlike 2023.

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We can all assume the Frenchman will be put under a lot of pressure from the opening race of the season until the very last, that’s just the nature of the Italian media.

Vasseur faces a double-edged sword with the Italian media

The Italian media is extremely passionate about motor racing. Now Ferrari being the pride of Italy, they’re always under a microscope. Now, it’s been more than a decade since Ferrari picked up any silverware in the premier class, and the Italian media has not been kind to them. This is exactly what the host of the F1 Nation podcast also highlighted.

“The strength of the Italian Media is inveigled in the team’s psyche. When you have a good race, they will write Brilliant things about you and when things aren’t going as well then it just takes someone like Elkann to say something like Ferrari needs to wake up. Now depending on whether Fred can protect everybody from that is dependent on how much people get distracted. It can be a distraction.”

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So to save himself from more public humiliation, Vasseur will need to pull up the socks and show results.