Fred Vasseur is hoping reliability issues that plagued Ferrari last year have been put behind the team over F1’s off-season.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both suffered issues while running in strong positions – in the former’s case while twice leading grands prix – which dearly cost the Italian marque and the Monégasque driver.

Although there is a freeze on power unit development, manufacturers are allowed to make changes for reliability reasons.

That freedom encouraged Alpine to adopt an aggressive approach toward power unit performance in 2022, knowing it could resolve any issues that might arise.

At Ferrari, the same has been true as the Scuderia has worked to resolve reliability weaknesses in its F1 power unit.

Ferrari focus on F1 reliability, not power

“We made some steps, but it’s just about reliability,” Team Principal Vasseur said, noting rumours that the revised engine boasted a 30 horsepower increase.

“I think the performance last year was not an issue at all, this issue was the reliability.

“The first target is to fix it. So far, it looks okay, but the reality of the track is a different aspect.

“I think that a couple of issues that the teams suffered, and it’s not just the truth of Ferrari but in terms of reliability also coming from the car preparations, bouncing, and vibration.

“Everybody will have a much better picture in Bahrain next week, or two weeks’ time.”

New role with Ferrari

Vasseur arrives at Ferrari off the back of its most successful season since 2019, when it finished second to Mercedes in the constructors’ championship and Leclerc was runner-up in the drivers’ standings.

Despite that, the pressure on Mattia Binotto was too great as the long-standing Ferrari staffer tendered his resignation shortly after the 2022 season drew to a close.

Though the pressure was mounting on Binotto, primarily from the Italian media, his decision only came after the final round last year.

“We had the first discussion the week after Abu Dhabi and it was very, very quick as a process,” Vasseur said of his appointment.

“Then I had a call with Mattia, and I even met Mattia during the handover, and we had a one-to-one discussion.

“Thanks to Mattia for this because that was appreciated, the move, from Mattia to stay, to wait for me, to discuss together.”

Ferrari will launch its new car, the SF-23, on February 14 after firing it up for the first time earlier this month.