Vasseur praises Ferrari for “aggressive” approach

Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur has praised his team for pursuing an aggressive approach this year, and for their willingness to step out of their comfort zone and take risks.

Following a strong start to the season, Ferrari has endured serious issues that have held the Maranello-headquartered team's performance back in recent weeks. The upgrade package introduced at Barcelona has re-induced porpoising, which has only been partially addressed and the team hopes that it will be fully resolved post-summer break.

Despite the issues with its recent upgrade package, the Scuderia achieved a big improvement, having collected 134 points more in the first 14 races this year than in same period of last season.

The Maranello-based outfit’s team boss Fred Vasseur thinks it will be key for the Scuderia to maintain an aggressive approach if it wants to challenge for top places.

“We became more aggressive,” he told AMuS of the last 12 months. “For me, this new basic attitude had more impact than anything else.”

“That means daring to step out of your comfort zone. Whether it’s the amount of fuel you need for the race, the weight, the cooling, or the car’s set-up. In my opinion, that was one of Red Bull’s biggest trump cards. Yes, but it also sharpens the senses,” he insisted.

“For example: if you want to push the weight to the limit, you have to think very carefully beforehand about how much weight the car will lose during the race due to wear and tear on the underbody, the tyres, the brakes, and the oil consumption.”

“If the result is three kilograms and you take four, you have already lost weight. The same goes for cooling. I can open the fairing one notch more than the limit. Then I have a nice life without worries.”

“Depending on the circumstances, I may have to manage a little more here and there during the race, but the bottom line is that it costs less than it brings. Every kilo too much, every degree cooler than necessary, costs you three hundredths. In total, you have given away a tenth. That can make up three positions on the starting grid.”

While the Frenchman accepts that taking a more aggressive approach brings more risks along, he thinks only a more ambitious thinking will enable Ferrari to get back to the front.

“If you operate at the limit, you have to think a lot more. The more attention you pay to a topic, the more precisely you work. This thinking continues in all other areas.”

“Of course,” he accepted, “you expose yourself to the risk of making mistakes. If things are going really badly, you just have to slow down a bit to stay within limits, or you’ll be disqualified.”

“But that’s the price you have to pay if you want to be at the front. That’s how your competitors see it too.”