Vasseur tipped to succeed as Ferrari boss

Bernie Ecclestone expects Frederic Vasseur to succeed as Ferrari’s new team boss.

Vasseur moved from Sauber to the fabled Maranello team over the winter to replace Mattia Binotto after Ferrari’s sequence of errors in 2022.

Ecclestone, the 92-year-old former F1 supremo, told Sport1: "At Ferrari, you need someone who works without emotion, who makes clear decisions quickly and is not influenced by the fascinating but also dangerous atmosphere in the team."

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher agrees that Frenchman Vasseur is the man for the job.

"He has hardly anything to lose," he said. "He has a thriving business in France so if things go wrong at Ferrari, he won’t fall far.

"That means he can take it very easy."

Ahead of the 2023 season, 54-year-old Vasseur admits that Ferrari’s goal is the title but is coy about whether the new car will be capable of it.

"We carried out various tests with different amounts of fuel," he said when asked about Bahrain testing, in which Red Bull appeared to be more competitive.

"Some solutions worked, others less so. Now we have to make the best of it and draw the right conclusions.

"But anyway, I’m not worried."

F1’s current CEO is Stefano Domenicali, who is also a former Ferrari team boss.

"Of course Ferrari has had difficult moments," he told Italy’s Autosprint ahead of the new season.

"But they are recovering and will soon return to the success they used to know. "I am convinced that Ferrari will play a leading role this year."

Some, however, wonder if Ferrari’s policy of equality between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz could hurt the team in its fight against Max Verstappen in 2023.

Corriere della Sera reports that, after Bahrain testing, Leclerc is "struggling more than Sainz to drive the new car".

Domenicali is not worried that the driver duel will spin out of control.

"Those kind of duels have always ended badly," said the Italian.

"But these days, the level of competition is so high that a team must have clear rules to maximise points.

"On the other hand, a duel makes the racing more exciting, so I would also say that the more they fight, the better."