Ferrari’s Frédéric Vasseur Aiming for “Strong” Canadian GP

Scuderia Ferrari’s Frédéric Vasseur is aiming for a strong Canadian Grand Prix, after an underwhelming start to the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship for the Italian team, who sit fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.

Ferrari come into the weekend following an extremely disappointing showing in Barcelona, with Carlos Sainz Jr. finishing fifth at the Spanish Grand Prix and his teammate Charles Leclerc finishing eleventh after getting knocked out in Q1 for the first time in his Ferrari career.

Ferrari have fallen behind both Aston Martin Armaco F1 Team and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team in the standings and in terms of performance lately, and will be hoping they can bounce back in Canada, but Team Principal Vasseur has made it clear that they still have to make improvements with their race pace despite recent upgrades.

“We come to Canada knowing that there is still room for improvement in terms of race pace with the SF-23. However, the upgrades introduced at the last round in Spain meant that the car behaved more consistently in the race in Barcelona.”

Vasseur looked back on last year’s performance at the Canadian Grand Prix, and hopes the team can use that and the support from the fans in Montreal as motivation throughout the weekend. Last year saw Sainz fight for the win with Max Verstappen until the very last lap, and Leclerc fight his way to fifth from the back row after taking multiple engine penalties.

“Last year in Montreal, both our drivers raced really well, with Carlos finishing second after putting the winner under pressure all the way to the flag, while Charles fought his way through the field from the back row of the grid to claim a fifth place finish. Ferrari has always enjoyed plenty of support in Canada and we hope to deliver a strong performance for our tifosi this weekend.”