Vasseur: Not sure big names in F1 add value

After joining Ferrari ahead of the 2023 F1 season, Vasseur has been facing an uphill task trying to get the once-great team back to its former glory, as they are stuck with a troublesome car in the form of the SF-23, not to mention the long list of operational errors that have marred their performance of late.

Several key personnel have left Maranello recently, as head of vehicle concept David Sanchez left to McLaren, while Sporting Director Laurent Mekies has been hired by AlphaTauri to replace Franz Tost as team boss at the end of the 2023 F1 season; but Ferrari are on a hiring run.

Despite not being the first time, there have been speculations linking Red Bull Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey to Ferrari, before the former extended his contract with Red Bull.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 whether Ferrari approached Newey, Vasseur insisted a big name like the British engineer is not necessarily the solution for the Scuderia's troubles.

"You have all the big names of F1," he said. "I'm asked very often the question about Max, Lewis, top engineers and so on. For sure [you would want them] but in the end it's not like this, at the end you need to understand where you are weak and not and to try to improve step by step.

"I'm not sure that the big names in F1, if they are not part of the project from the beginning, do they add value? If they join the team and want to change everything, you are speaking about two or three years plus two or three years but it would be too long," he explained.

"I think we have a good structure. We have to reinforce the team for sure and we are on this way but it's not just about big names.

"In the big teams today we are roughly 1,000 [employees] and I'm convinced the weight of the group is much more important than the weight of the individual," the Frenchman insisted.

The F1 employment market is somehow closed, as talent usually moves from one team to another rather than join from a different motorsport category or even different fields and with most F1 teams being based in the United Kingdom, teams based elsewhere like Ferrari and AlphaTauri in Italy and Alfa Romeo/Sauber in Switzerland face a challenge in attracting talent.

Vasseur admitted being in Italy, Ferrari has more difficulties than other teams when hiring; he said: "It's not the same situation.

"You can move from Red Bull to Mercedes, keep the same hours, keep children in the same school and from the Friday to the Monday you can change and everything is perfect," he explained. "If you want to come to Italy, it's a different approach. You have to change the family environment and so on.

"But as soon as you are in Italy I think it's more difficult to leave - the food is much better and the quality of life in Italy is mega," the Ferrari boss quipped.

"Sometimes it can play into discussions because they have to move the family, it depends on the situation of the children, it's not always easy but as soon as we are able to attract someone they are staying.

"I had the same situation at Sauber, it was difficult to ask them to come but as soon as they were in Switzerland they stayed in Switzerland," Vasseur maintained.

Ferrari left the Canadian Grand Prix with a fourth and fifth place finish for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, despite showing some pace improvement compared to Barcelona.

However an error in Qualifying strategy meant Leclerc was eliminated from Q2, while Sainz who qualified eighth was demoted for impeding another car on track.

The Scuderia are currently fourth in the 2023 F1 Constructors' Standing with 122 points.