The team principal: “The emulation between the riders pushes the whole team. To win the 2025 title we must avoid drops during the season”
Vasseur smiles when faced with the many questions from journalists present during the annual end-of-year greeting organized by Scuderia Ferrari in Fiorano. He smiles because there is a name at the center of almost all the questions received, and it is that of the seven-time Formula 1 world champion who from the beginning of 2025 will cross the doors of Maranello to begin, at the age of 40, a new decisive phase of his career at the helm of Ferrari: “It was not difficult to convince Lewis that coming to Ferrari was a valid option for his future” explained the team principal of the red team, recalling how already twenty years ago the English champion dreamed of a future in Maranello. “We were already talking about it in 2004, before his entry into F1 – he said – I think Lewis has always thought about it but sometimes the planets have to align, something has to click and it has to be the right moment on both sides”. An astral alignment that took place almost a year ago now, with the announcement of Hamilton’s transition to red dated 1 February 2024, but which will only come true in all respects at the beginning of 2025.
next Ferrari steps
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The most awaited date, Vasseur revealed during the day at Fiorano, will be 19 February 2025, when the new Cavallino F1 car, the first of the Leclerc-Hamilton era, will be revealed with an official presentation. However, no date has been confirmed by Vasseur for the first test behind the wheel of a Ferrari for Hamilton, who will take to the track at Fiorano with the F1-75 on a day behind closed doors: “We don’t want to focus on the show, the launch of the car will be enough and we need to focus on the season.” Time is running out at Ferrari and the increasingly tight deadlines between one season and another are forcing the Cavallino men to concentrate all their energy on the few weeks available to the English champion in order to arrive prepared for the tests in Bahrain at the end of February: “Lewis will have only six weeks available from the beginning of January to the presentation of the car but he is a driver with a lot of experience available and for this reason I am not worried that there are only three days of testing in Bahrain and what if something were to happen, for example a storm of sand as happened a couple of years ago, it wouldn’t be easy for him to learn many procedures in the course of a few days but Hamilton has the experience to do it and today the drivers have the enormous advantage of the simulator at their disposal.” Thanks to Lewis working from home, confirms Vasseur, he will be able to “prepare by studying the particularities of our car, such as the use of the steering wheel, and also carry out qualifying and race pace tests”.
hamilton-leclerc, new couple
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Hamilton’s challenge at Ferrari will also involve living with new teammate Charles Leclerc. A driver who knows the Maranello team well and who, Vasseur is sure, will form a great pair with Lewis: “They will push each other. It’s an important challenge for both of them and I’m not worried because there is great respect between the two of them, yes they know each other well and have already been talking about their future as teammates for months.” A connection between future garage colleagues which in recent months has allowed Hamilton to get closer to the Ferrari dynamics without, however, assures Vasseur from Fiorano, going into technical details, due to a contract with Mercedes still in existence during 2024 to be respected for both sides. The red team principal himself admits that he doesn’t have much advice to give to Lewis on his move to Maranello: “He doesn’t need my advice, maybe I would tell him not to eat too much pasta” the Frenchman said laughing.
Ferrari goal
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What is clear, from the words used by Vasseur throughout the day at Fiorano, is the desire to emerge next year, especially given the great steps forward made in 2024 which closed just 14 points behind McLaren, winner of the constructors’ championship: “This year has been a roller coaster for all the teams. Four teams were able to do a double and when a team scores 1-2 it is usually dominant, but this year it was not like that. Seven drivers won and I don’t know if this is an absolute record for F1 but it is a very big number. I believe that next year the situation will be almost the same with the four teams fighting after making a leap forward. It is good news for Formula 1 It will be essential for us to work on our weak points in order to be able to return to the race at our best, ready to fight with the other three opponents.” Stopping, especially if aware of the proximity of the other teams, would be a serious mistake that Vasseur and his men are not willing to make.
farewell to sainz
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A final thought could not fail to go to Carlos Sainz who, on Tuesday just before Vasseur’s meeting with the journalists, went around the track in Fiorano to greet the redhead on an unforgettable morning alongside his father Carlos Sainz senior. A special farewell from Maranello, wanted by the team principal to thank the Spaniard for the great work done together: “I know it wasn’t easy for him when he learned that we wouldn’t be renewing the contract but Carlos remained focused and professional, helping the team to fight until the last corner of the last lap of the last race in Abu Dhabi.” A farewell that closes 2024, while Vasseur prepares for the challenge that awaits his entire team next year, when the doors of Fiorano will welcome the new Ferrari couple, in the sign of an ambition to be experienced on the track.
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