Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur conveyed a wonderful explanation of the approach he learned to reshape his team. In a recent podcast, with a fresh contract behind him and an outlook on continuity and long-term vision, he brought up the word inertia as part of the explanation for what he’s now focused on.
“What I underestimate is the inertia, the beginning, the fact that to rebuild something or to do things differently, it takes time. [And] It’s okay.”
This year, it’s a man sat in the paddock following one disappointing session after another, fighting with honesty and unexpected against reporters who act like vultures.
It’s never defeat talking. It’s someone who understands that the most dangerous moment in any system isn’t when you’re losing. It’s when you think you’ve won.
McLaren is dominating this season, yet Vasseur comments on how they’re still changing everything. Still pushing. And still refusing to declare victory. Understandably so. “If, at one stage, you are saying ‘everything is perfect’, then it’s the beginning of the end”, Fred says clearly.
It’s an observation that does extend far beyond the racetrack, as it’s said to be the DNA of any sound business.
The speed obsession
We live in an age obsessed with acceleration. Apps promise instant everything. “Thought leaders” sell shortcuts. The cultural narrative insists that if you’re not moving faster and outputting more, you’re lacking.
But speed without direction is just sophisticated stagnation. We have a genuine problem in the UK where ‘looking busy’ is the trend. Whereas after visiting the Netherlands and learning from its people, they get more done and have a better work/life balance.
Ferrari’s struggles aren’t from moving too slowly. That’s not feasible in their industry because it’s otherwise a death sentence. The problem is years of change, bringing changes of momentum and stubbornness taking them in the wrong direction. All that velocity. All that expensive motion at the cost of time. All those brilliant minds working at maximum capacity towards things that ultimately didn’t matter.
Does it sound familiar?
How many of us travel at incredible speed toward destinations we never deliberately chose? Such as routines that generate impressive activity but questionable progress. The real inertia isn't some weight that keeps us motionless under our duvet. It's the invisible force that drags us along paths carved by yesterday's choices.
Steering what already moves
Vasseur’s process isn’t to stop Ferrari’s momentum, but to redirect it. To create reinvigoration for all those years of accumulated knowledge, infrastructure, and team culture. The inertia of one organisation can become the very force that enables transformation.
In my new job, it’s an objective that can elevate everything. Something with beautiful potential only needs the right person to steer it. Rather than moving faster, focus on moving with precision.
The Arrival Trap
One of the most dangerous words in any language is “Perfect”. The moment we declare ourselves to no longer need improvement, entropy begins.
Vasseur talks about inertia as the heart of change. We're always in motion. Always accumulating momentum. Always choosing, even when we think we're not.
It changed my thinking, and this is why I write about inertia. To help others, like you, to recognise they're already the ones behind the wheel. Every morning presents the same choice. Will today's velocity carry us toward something meaningful, or will we confuse motion for progress?