Vasseur: The Title won’t be won or lost in Bahrain

Formula one is set for its 74th ever season this weekend in Bahrain, and it will be one of its longest with 23 races scheduled, which could've been 24 had China not dropped out in the last minute without being replaced.

For Ferrari this season holds a lot of hope that they can launch a proper Title fight, after the missed opportunities of 2022, when they started off with the fastest car on the grid, but started to drop back as the season progressed with driver and pit wall errors, as well as reliability problems.

As such Red Bull and Max Verstappen who where gaining momentum as the season developed out raced the Scuderia and their Charles Leclerc towards the 2022 F1 Title double.

Changes were made at Ferrari with Mattia Binotto relinquishing his role as Team Principal and Fred Vasseur replacing him and going on to do some changes, mainly replacing Inaki Reuda at the head of the on-track strategy team Ravin Jain.

Ferrari secured a one two at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc leading Carlos Sainz, so will that be the case as well this year?

Vasseur expressed his thoughts and feelings ahead of this weekend's season opener and spoke of the mood within the Reds; he said: "I’ve had this feeling quite often in my career, but I have to admit, this time it’s extra special.

"I can feel the passion not only from every single employee in Maranello, but also from the Tifosi - and it only took me a couple of months to get infected by this passion and excitement. We can’t wait to get the season started," he added.

Asked of his expectations from the team in the first race; the Frenchman said: "Testing was good and the three days last week showed that the car is matching our expectations and now we need to continue fine-tuning in order to get the most out of it.

"One thing is clear: this will be the Championship with the most races ever, so no matter what the result, the title won’t be won or lost in Bahrain," he insisted.

Delving into the technical aspects of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Vasseur said: "We know the track pretty well.

"But the changing air and track temperatures, as well as changing wind conditions, plus the new Pirelli tyres will make it very tricky to get the set-up of the car right.

"But both Carlos and Charles collected a lot of data during the three test days, so we should be well prepared for a good weekend," Vasseur concluded.