Leclerc lifts lid on how Ferrari's culture has changed under Vasseur

Charles Leclerc has given an insight into how Fred Vasseur has “made a really big difference” at Ferrari by changing certain aspects of the team’s culture, with the Monegasque praising his boss for providing a sense of “balance” to their perspective.

Following the departure of former Team Principal Mattia Binotto at the close of the 2022 season, Vasseur took over the role ahead of the 2023 campaign getting under way. The Frenchman had previously had stints at the helm of the Renault and Sauber outfits, as well as running teams in junior motorsport categories prior to entering F1.

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While the Scuderia have endured mixed fortunes in recent times, Vasseur has been focused on continuing to move the team forwards and, according to Leclerc, his approach to doing so is proving beneficial.

Reflecting on how the squad’s culture has changed under Vasseur, Leclerc told F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast: “It's quite a lot different. Ferrari is such a huge team with so much history that it's not the easiest of tasks to do something like this.

“I think there are some core values of Ferrari that will never change and I think it also never has to change, because the value of passion is something that, to that extent, you will only find in Ferrari and it's something that is absolutely incredible.

“At the same time, it can bite in some difficult moments because passion also means emotion, and sometimes when it goes very bad, it can affect more the people inside the team than in any other teams. But that will also bring the people to give 200 per cent in order to do everything to get out of difficult moments for the team.”

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In terms of the areas in which Vasseur has particularly brought about change, Leclerc pointed to his ability to understand how to get the most out of each individual involved – as well as providing a balanced perspective during both good and bad times.

“I think Fred has changed quite a few things, which made a really big difference,” the Monegasque explained. “First, to try and understand every single individual within the team, to try and understand the situation and to put them in the best possible conditions in order to extract the maximum out of each individual.

“That is definitely one of the biggest strengths of Fred. The other thing is that I feel like he's always acting a bit like a balance in the team.

“Whenever you are having a really good race with Ferrari, everybody feels so good, so happy, and Fred is always the balance of saying: ‘yeah, it's great, but now let's recentre a little bit because it's only one race and we've got many other races,’ and exactly the same in bad moments when everybody feels down, Fred is always there to give us the positives in a difficult situation to remotivate everybody.

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“He's very emotionally flat and that is a really good thing for a team like Ferrari. That’s what is needed in Ferrari, so I’m completely confident and I have full trust in what Fred does.”

With Leclerc having claimed the squad’s third win of the season last time out at Monza, the Scuderia are in third place of the constructors’ standings with 407 points, putting them just 39 points behind leaders Red Bull and 31 away from McLaren in second.

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