Frederic Vasseur’s Ferrari is in the midst of a silent restructuring, with more or less known figures leaving the scene when a new Formula 1 season has just started.
When the French team principal began his activity in Maranello, speaking with journalists, he hinted that he would not make major changes to the structure because he needed to know the Gestione Sportiva.
He had made no secret that he would put his hand to organizing the strategies, arguing that it was more a question of procedures, chain of command and speed of information than men, but before the tests in Bahrain, the department was entrusted to the young Ravin Jain, while Inaki Rueda was confined to the Remote Garage to follow more sporting and less tactical aspects. And Laurent Mekies, Racing Director and Head of Track Area, has been demoted: some of the powers he had with Mattia Binotto were taken over by Fred Vasseur. This scenario has been defined with an official note.
Yesterday’s news, however, is that David Sanchez is leaving Ferrari. The French engineer handed in his resignation after a cycle in Maranello that lasted ten years. The counterpart of the current technical director, Enrico Cardile. David Sanchez should have been the man of ideas, while Enrico Cardile had to select the good concepts from the less efficient ideas. The partnership broke up because the French engineer no longer sees his space in the project and would look for a return to McLaren, where Andrea Stella is called to revise the Woking team.
The timing is not casual: the exit was planned, to start a new adventure before the new year, after the gardening period. And, therefore, it doesn’t depend on the poor performance seen at the debut of the SF-23 in Bahrain, but it is the end of a story with ups and downs.
But what is happening to Ferrari? And, above all, should we expect further departures? Gino Rosato, another long-standing figure of the Maranello team who started with Jean Todt passing through the management of Stefano Domenicali, Marco Mattiacci, Maurizio Arrivabene and Mattia Binotto, left once Fred Vasseur arrived, although he still had a valid contract for 2023. Gino didn’t have a specific role, but many functions: he established contacts, weaved relationships before certain talks became something more official. He had a strategic role in key moments.
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And how can we forget Jonathan Giacobazzi who tiptoed away from the Maranello team at the end of February? The Italian, a concrete expression of being Ferrari, given that he had a bond with the Scuderia that began in the 1980s with the sponsorship of Gilles Villeneuve, which then led him to assume a role of link between the owners, the top management and GeS.
Jonathan Giacobazzi’s departure is striking because he is not a man who builds a car, who chases performance and if the car doesn’t go well, he doesn’t assume responsibility. No, he is a figure who is part of the soul of the team, he represents the roots of a Ferrari which, evidently, are of little interest.
We don’t know what led to Jonathan’s decision to leave, but it must be something major to end such a long-lasting bond with Maranello. And it is right to ask what is happening in via Enzo Ferrari which cannot be seen or perceived from the outside.
What is the project of President John Elkann that did not show up at the official presentation of the SF-23, giving a certain sign of distrust to the project? As if he wanted to stay a step behind, as if having conquered Mattia Binotto’s “fort”, a racing department closed in on itself, wasn’t enough.
Frederic Vasseur took it upon himself to announce that Ferrari would be fighting for the two world titles. What we are seeing is a Scuderia that is losing its pieces along the way and we wouldn’t be surprised if we were to see other unhappy people leave the Formula 1 Racing Division. The Frenchman has to manage a delicate moment, but it is certain that he will have his own organization chart in his head: however, by simply promoting the second lines it may not be enough to make a significant step forward, which means that Fred Vasseur will also have to look on the market.
