Vasseur eyes 'huge potential' after Ferrari failures

Frederic Vasseur concedes Ferrari ave up "more points than our direct competitors" in 2023, but is sure there is "huge potential" moving forwards.

The Scuderia slipped to third in the Constructors', finishing just three points behind Mercedes after failing to overhaul the Silver Arrows in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Ferrari was the only team to defeat Red Bull, through Carlos Sainz in Singapore but could have finished ahead of Mercedes if Sainz had started in Qatar or Charles Leclerc not suffered a failure on the formation lap in Brazil.

Vasseur described how he had made a list of all the points lost, but was adamant at looking ahead to the future.

Vasseur eyes improvement

"We started on the wrong foot in Bahrain [with Leclerc's retirement, we were P3 and we also got a penalty for the second race [in Saudi Arabia]," Vasseur told media including RacingNews365.

"It meant for Charles it was almost 25 points [worth] of penalties, plus the points you are giving the others.

"But it is not only this one. I made a list a couple of times in my head of the classification without the issues and overall, I think that you have ups and downs throughout the season.

"For sure, we gave up more points than our direct competitors, but it is another topic to work on for next year and to be more opportunistic and efficient.

"I hate to race with 'if'.

"Everybody can race with 'if' and do a better job, and it means that 'if' is completely forbidden in the factory.

"It is not to find an excuse because it is our fault. It is not that we are saying it is not. We have to improve and there is clearly huge potential."