Ferrari "miles away" from perfect structure

Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur says the team is "miles away" from having the perfect structure in place, adding that the Scuderia needs to constantly evolve and adapt in order to keep pace with F1's leading outfits.

Vasseur took over at Maranello in January, replacing Mattia Binotto, who had served as Team Principal since 2019.

After winning four races in 2022, hopes were high at Ferrari of a title challenge this year.

However, 2023 has proved disappointing for the Prancing Horse, with only three podium finishes across the first 12 Grands Prix of the year, as Red Bull has swept every available win.

In addition to the below-par performance of the SF-23, Vasseur has also had to deal with significant upheaval at management level. Racing Director Laurent Mekies has left the team to become AlphaTauri's Team Principal, while Senior Design Engineer David Sanchez is heading to McLaren.

Vasseur stresses "permanent improvement"

Vasseur has secured the services of Mercedes' Performance Director Loic Serra, though the younger Frenchman is not set to come on board until 2025, and Vasseur noted that he was some way from having his desired line-up in place.

"We are miles away, because when you are doing my job you don't have to imagine that there is a perfect structure," Vasseur told media, including RacingNews365.

"You always need to improve, and always need to change things. If you stay with the same structure two years in a row then you are dead, because all the others will improve.

"It means that I don't have a clear picture to say: 'I have to do this and full stop, and it will work.' It would be stupid.

"We will make some changes in the coming weeks, in the coming months, in the coming years, because some topics are a bit longer than others. But it's a permanent evolution and permanent improvement."