Vasseur pinpoints moment he knew Ferrari would have 2023 trouble

Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has pinpointed the moment he knew the team's fortunes would be in trouble in 2023.

2023 was not the season that Ferrari anticipated after its strong start to the ground-effects era in '22, slipping to third in the Constructors'.

It launched the SF-23 to much fanfare at Maranello, but the first races were plagued with reliability problems resulting in an early penalty for Charles Leclerc.

Things would pick up for the team as the season progressed, with a strong race at the Italian Grand Prix before Carlos Sainz picked up the only non-Red Bull win of the year in Singapore.

The win would set it up for a tight battle for second in the Constructors' Championship with Mercedes, with Ferrari finishing the better of the two, but falling short by just three points.

Sainz would ultimately blame the poor reliability at the end of the season for missing out, with both Sainz and Leclerc recording a DNS apiece in Qatar and Brazil, respectively due to a fuel leak and hydraulic failure, respectively.

Vasseur: It was a tough season

When asked if he knew the 2023 season would be an uphill struggle, Vasseur told media, including RacingNews365: "The first morning of the [first] test, I think that it was quite obvious already.

"You have still some hopes, you are developing the car, you are pushing, you are hoping to do pole position, to win one or two races.

"But if you think that at the end Max will win all the races except one, two or three, it was a tough season.

"The most important thing in our business is to have a clearer picture of what we are doing and to try to improve and the result is what we were expecting."

Will the Scuderia finally be able to end the drought and claim the title in 2024 in a fight with Red Bull? Let us know in the comments below and by voting in the poll!