After a half-fig half-grape championship (four victories and a second place in the constructors' world championship), the Scuderia Ferrari hopes this year to put an end to fifteen shortages.
Since 2008, the Italian team has not won a title.
A new boss, Frédéric Vasseur, is on a mission.
Driver of the Reds from 1991 to 1995, Jean Alesi, now director of the Paul Ricard circuit and Canal+ consultant, presents the chances of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
In 2023, no more nonsense?
To discover
Formula 1: the calendar of the season
Formula 1: manufacturers' classification
Formula 1: drivers classification
LE
FIGARO.- An overpowered engine, a new manager, confident drivers… is 2023 (finally) the right year for Ferrari?
JEAN
ALESI.-
You have to pay a little attention to the conclusions based on tests.
In Bahrain, I spoke with Laurent Mekies, Ferrari's sporting director.
He explained to me that there was not necessarily more engine power.
Last year, due to reliability problems, the Scuderia voluntarily lowered the engine power to reduce damage.
Ferrari is faster on the straight compared to last year because they have taken slightly different options in terms of aerodynamics.
It will be very interesting, because other teams have not chosen this option.
This is the case of Mercedes.
What we saw during the tests is that Red Bull was comfortable all the time.
What do you think of the arrival of Frédéric Vasseur
?
It is a real change.
Last year, we had Mattia Binotto who had been with Ferrari for 28 years.
He was an engine engineer.
He climbed all the rungs.
He knew the mechanics and mentality of Ferrari by heart.
Frédéric Vasseur is a boy who has been passionate about car racing since a very young age and who built himself on the job.
He recovers a team that finished second last year.
He will bring his touch, especially human and bring rigor.
You drove for Ferrari (1991-1995)
under the leadership of Jean Todt
.
Do you notice any similarities with Frédéric Vasseur?
No, I do not find.
As I said, Jean poached the whole of the best team from the Benetton paddock.
Vasseur is not going to recruit the entire Red Bull staff (laughs).
Frédéric grew up in the world of motorsport in a different way.
And they don't have the same character: Jean Todt has a more assertive character.
Read alsoJean Alesi and the Ferrari passion: "This uniform, at first, I was a little ashamed to have it"
How to explain these fifteen years of scarcity?
If we look a bit more in detail, it's a bit of Ferrari history.
Before Schumacher's era (1996-2006), there had also been fifteen years without a title.
They are often in the game, but at key moments, incidents happen that cause them to miss the boat.
I met a child who saw me in a Ferrari.
He said to me: “Rossa, vinci”.
You are red, you have to win.
John Alesi
How do you deal with this frustration while driving?
It's very difficult.
In five years I have Ferrari, I had four different directors.
How do you want to build something that works over time?
You have pressure from the fans.
For the fans, when you drive a Ferrari you have to win.
They don't understand when you're not on the podium.
Like me, by the way: if I'm driving a Ferrari, it must work well.
When you're not performing, you feel the burden on your shoulders.
I remember one day when I was at Ferrari, I met a child who saw me in a Ferrari.
He said to me: “Rossa, vinci”.
You are red, you have to win.
Ferrari also needs to improve on strategy. There were a lot of hiccups last year...
Formula 1 is today so difficult and tight that the strategy, in particular to stop at the pit, becomes essential.
It's what makes you win or lose the race.
There were mistakes and also a lot of bad luck.
This is explained by the fact that they have often been leaders in the races: but it is when you are first that you have the most to lose.
Should we stop first?
Or wait?
And suddenly they made a lot of bad choices.
And all this with close-ups on television of Mattia Binotto, as if he alone had made the decision.
While there are computers and strategists…
Exactly, does Ferrari trust computers and statisticians too much and not enough in the vistas of its drivers?
It's a good question… but it's complicated.
Drivers today have a lot to deal with.
Even when it rains: they are the ones who feel the track, but they don't know if it will last.
The drivers don't have the competition's figures and they can't make the decision on their own whether to stop or not.
Same in a Safety car.
You have to find a balance where the computers and the strategists are at the service of the pilot.
You are the new boss of the Paul Ricard circuit.
When can we expect the return of an F1 GP in France?
We are going to do everything for it, but there has to be a national will.
When you go to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, there is the king on the starting grid.
When you are at the Italian GP, there is the President of the Republic… Everywhere you are welcomed by the nation.
This is not the case in France.
My only memory of a President of the Republic on a circuit is François Mitterrand who inaugurated the Magny-Cours GP in 1991. We need to be supported by the country, not just by a region.
The Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region bled to get the Grand Prix, but that's too much of a Gaulish village.
I am one of the six drivers who have been chosen to be an F1 ambassador.
F1 is asking for France.
And in logistical terms, this is an asset:
this makes it possible to make a short, close stage between Barcelona and Monaco.
And then when you are in Le Castellet, you have your feet in the water (laughs).
