Ferrari’s choice to sign Frederic Vasseur reflects its ambition to do better in Formula 1, and I think he’s just the right man for the job. I’ve known him since the Formula 3 Euroseries, even in the days before the ART Grand Prix team, when he ran future stars Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean in his ASM squad. ART (in partnership with Nicholas Todt) subsequently became the sub-F1 junior team powerhouse, and you can add its champions Nico Rosberg, Nico Hulkenberg and Charles Leclerc into that heady mix of running drivers before they were famous. After a short spell as Renault F1 team principal, he joined Sauber for its Alfa Romeo-bannered era. In his spare time, another company he founded – Spark – has built every Formula E and Extreme E chassis… ever. He’s an impressive dude with two settings: Deadly serious and giggly – he’s a man who looks for humour in life when he’s not being focused. He might need the latter to cope with the off-track BS he’ll face as the custodian of the world’s most famous racing team. But he’s also incredibly single-minded, and he’ll need that too as the technical rank and file at Ferrari copes with losing one of its own in Mattia Binotto… There won’t be any time allowed for excuses here. By: Charles Bradley, Global Editor in Chief
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