Ferrari Showed "More Than Equal Treatment" Between Their Drivers Vasseur Asserts

Sunday, 24 December 2023 at 09:00

Ferrari team principal argued his two drivers, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, had "more than equal treatment" throughout the 2023 season.

It is a topic of debate in every single team in Formula One whether they should have a clearly defined number one driver and a driver number two who is there to help him win the championship.

The other option is to have drivers with equal status, which usually means two very strong drivers, but the downside is they might fight too much, as we have seen with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in the past.

In general, F1 fans see it as unfair when a team destroys one driver's race to help his teammate, who is number one. Ferrari has been accused in the past of preferring one driver over another.

However, Vasseur asserted it has clearly not been the case with Scuderia Ferrari and its drivers during the 2023 season. He told the media:

"We showed this season that we have more than equal treatment between the drivers. I remember perfectly that one year ago in the same room, I had tons of questions about Charles number one and Carlos number two and 'blah blah blah.'"

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In general, the strategy of the weekend at Ferrari was determined based on the Qualifying result. Vasseur pointed out the Singapore Grand Prix where Sainz qualified better, and so Leclerc helped him out during the race.

"We showed on some occasions, I think Singapore was the best example when Charles agreed to start with Soft [tyres] to jump [George] Russell and block Russell. When we asked Charles to slow down Russell, he did it."

The Spaniard and the Monegasque driver have been one of the most closely matched driver pairings on the grid in 2023. They finished the season, separated by a mere six points. Vasseur added:

"It meant that they did a very good job together. We have two cars, two drivers. One of the good points of the season is that they scored almost the same number of points."