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Martin Brundle claims Fred Vasseur did ‘better than expected’ in his first season at Ferrari

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Aditya Pandya | Last updated 12/25/23

Scuderia Ferrari went through a mixed bag of a season in 2023. Despite the lack of good strategy and pit-stops, Ferrari was notably the only team to win a race other than Red Bull in the entire season. Hence, the first year for Fred Vasseur leading Ferrari was full of challenges and learnings. The famous F1 presenter Martin Brundle has shared his opinions over the leadership of the Frenchman.

The British reporter talked about the Vasseur’s first season at Maranello. Brundle asserted that the Ferrari team boss exceeded his expectations in terms of leading the Prancing Horse during his first year. The 64-year-old also recalled the earlier days of Vasseur where he failed to perform well at Alfa Romeo and Renault in the beginning.

I think he did well, better than I thought he was going to if I’m really honest, because at Alfa Romeo and Renault I didn’t really see him making a big impression. Brundle told Sky Sports F1.

Martin Brundle further talked about Vasseur’s involvement and success in the junior racing format of ART Grand Prix. The presenter insisted that the Frenchman was incredibly successful with ART and helped bounce some steam off for the teams. Hence, this enabled the team to move forward through the years due to involvement of the Frenchman.

We know how incredibly successful he’s been with ART in the junior formulas, but I think Fred turned up there, let some of the pressure bounce off him and the team have moved forward through the year.

Martin Brundle addressed the pressure over Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz’s shoulders

The two drivers for the Maranello, namely, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz performed well despite the stability issues put forth by Ferrari. The team secured a good P3 finish in the constructor’s championship after a very close call for the runner-up spot to Mercedes. However, both drivers carried a lot of pressure on their shoulders due to Ferrari’s legacy in the racing world.

Brundle highlighted that both the drivers were great but had a lot of pressure on their shoulders. The Briton subsequently explained that Ferrari is not just a Formula 1 team and hence this increased pressure for the drivers as well as the principal Vasseur. However, the team was towards ascendancy according to Brundle.

The Ferrari definitely needs to improve in multiple sectors as indicated from the performances this season. Regardless, the principle Fred Vasseur tries his best for the Maranello to return back to it’s winning days and finally compete with the other teams at a chance for the championship and the constructor’s victory.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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