15 November 2023 , 19:17
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Ralf Schumacher has urged Ferrari to give team principal Fred Vasseur time after a tricky first season in charge of the Italians.
Vasseur replaced Mattia Binotto as Ferrari's chief last December but has failed to challenge Red Bull for either title this season. Ferrari are third in the Constructors' Championship - 20 points behind Mercedes in second - and have just one victory to their name.
Ferrari are desperate to be triumphant in Formula 1 again. The sport's most successful team haven't won the Constructors' Championship since 2008, while their most recent Drivers' Championship came in 2007 thanks to the brilliance of Kimi Raikkonen.
Vasseur is under huge pressure to reassert Ferrari at the top of F1 and needs to keep both his drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, committed to the cause. Yet Ralf Schumacher, who is the brother of Ferrari legend Michael, hopes Vasseur will be given time.
Ferrari's most successful era was between 2000 and 2004, when they won five consecutive Drivers' and Constructors' Championships with Michael Schumacher driving for them. Yet the seven-time world champion needed time to get things right.
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He left Benetton, where he won his first two world titles, for Ferrari in 1996 but was forced to wait four years to drive another championship-winning car. But the German, technical director Ross Brawn and team chief Jean Todt eventually found the answer.
Ralf Schumacher believes Ferrari must regain that patience. He told Sky in Germany: "We must give Frederic Vasseur time, he cannot transform the entire company in six or seven months. Even Michael, Ross Brawn and Jean Todt took a few years."
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Perhaps Vasseur's biggest challenge will be persuading Leclerc and Sainz to stay. Both drivers are out of contract at the end of next season and may consider quitting Ferrari if they struggle again. Losing either driver would be problematic, with many of F1's other stars - including Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton - already tied down to contracts.
Yet Leclerc has reiterated his desire to stat at Ferrari. "I don't really think to that because Ferrari is so special and I wouldn't change my position with anyone else on the grid," the 26-year-old told ESPN ahead of this Sunday's Las Vegas Grand Prix.
"Do I want to win world championships? Of course, this is the same for everybody, but do I want to change my place with anyone? No, I don't."
Leclerc added: "I have always been dreaming of being a Formula 1 driver, and even more so with Ferrari," he said. "It's a bit of a family feeling now, it's been so many years I have been within the team... I want to finish the mission with a world championship."