Special guest of the JAonF1 Podcast, the Scuderia Ferrari team principal spoke about the “Vasseur Method”. A new approach, which starts with the involvement of every member of the team, on and off the track. “The most important thing is to convince everyone in the company that they can make a difference in performance, “confirms Fred Vasseur. “It’s not just the head of engineering, it’s everyone. In production, for example, we have to be able to produce a bit faster or a bit lighter. If we all push in the same direction with this kind of positive attitude, it will work”.

Vasseur is the second non- talian to lead the Cavallino, the first one was also French and it was Jean Todt: “The facts of being a non-Italian has its pros and cons as everything”, confesses Fred. “Struggling a bit with the language, in a way it is not the best to build a relationship with the mechanics on track. On the other hand, sometimes it helps to have a kind of distance, a time for reaction and a bit less of emotion, so it’s a good way to manage the situation”.

Regarding managing the pressure, Vassuer confirms that the fact that “you need to translate is also a thinking time, so it is not a disadvantage. but I want to improve my Italian anyway to enjoy a beer with the mechanics”.

Vasseur discusses also the importance of protecting the team from external forces and taking risks to improve performance. “I push the team to take more risks. and of course when you take risks you can make mistakes, this goes together, but my job is to assume the mistakes of the team, to avoid to expose them.

“I spent the last 15 months to push the team to take more risks and have a better risk management and I’m really pleased with the step forward we made”.

Fred Vasseur spent his life on the pit wall so he knows well what pressure is. “Everybody has pressure on the grid” and regarding Ferrari, he underlines “as Ferrari we don’t have to be scared about the consequences of what we are doing .It’s my job to manage the pressure and also to push the team to be take more aggressive moves  when it is needed”.

Finally,  well known and appreciated for his use of the humour, Fred explains that “every single team, every single team principal is pushing like hell. We are not an exception. we are working seriously but sometimes you can take things more relaxed and we can do both together. it’s a priviledge to do our job and I enjoy it”.

Credits Photo: Ferrari