Ferrari has begun a technical recruitment drive by hiring two chassis engineers from Mercedes and Aston Martin, with further additions expected during the second half of the 2026 Formula 1 season. The Scuderia reportedly plans to bring in around five new specialists as Fred Vasseur works to provide technical director Loïc Serra with the personnel required to strengthen the team.
Some of the expected recruits are relatively unknown figures, while others could be more prominent names. The first two engineers have already arrived at Maranello and started integrating into Ferrari’s technical structure, with the appointments focused on the chassis department and the development of the team’s future cars.
Ferrari begins recruitment drive after missed Hungarian GP opportunity
The Hungarian Grand Prix brought the first phase of the season to an end and began Formula 1’s two-week summer break. It also exposed the weaknesses of a Ferrari team that does not yet appear mature enough to win consistently.
The Scuderia made too many mistakes and allowed too many opportunities to slip away during a race in which the SF-26 had shown strong competitiveness. Ferrari ultimately finished outside the podium places in Budapest despite competing at a circuit considered particularly well suited to the car.
The result reinforced the concerns raised in Fred Vasseur’s Ferrari mid-season assessment, with the team principal acknowledging that the level achieved so far is still insufficient.
Before the factory closed for the summer holiday, Fred Vasseur thanked the staff at Ferrari’s racing division for the commitment shown throughout the opening part of the championship. During that period, the Italian team ended a long wait for victory by securing two important successes: Lewis Hamilton won in Spain before Charles Leclerc triumphed at the British Grand Prix.
What Ferrari continues to lack is consistent performance at the highest level. Its failure to reach the podium in Hungary, despite the SF-26’s apparent potential, demonstrated why additional technical resources are considered necessary. The team’s difficulties in converting pace into results were also evident in the late drama that left Ferrari outside the Hungarian Grand Prix podium.
Mercedes and Aston Martin engineers join Ferrari chassis department
The recruitment decisions were naturally made well in advance because Formula 1 personnel movements are restricted by gardening leave. These contractual periods represent one of the biggest obstacles to transferring engineers between rival teams and often delay appointments for several months.
For now, Ferrari has secured two relatively low-profile specialists from Mercedes and Aston Martin. Both have begun working within the Maranello team’s chassis organisation.
Luciano Nicomede has moved from Mercedes’ Brackley operation to Ferrari as a Senior Chassis Composite Designer. He spent more than four years working for Mercedes before joining the Scuderia.
Spanish engineer Carlos Sánchez Martínez has left Aston Martin after eight years with the Silverstone-based team. He has joined Ferrari as a Chassis Stress Engineering Specialist, a role focused primarily on structural calculations and ensuring that chassis components can withstand the loads generated during operation.
The two engineers arrive in time to reinforce the department led by chassis chief Fabio Montecchi. His group has already defined the principal characteristics of Ferrari’s 2027 monocoque according to the technical direction established by Loïc Serra.
Fred Vasseur works to give Loïc Serra more technical resources
Fred Vasseur appears determined to expand Ferrari’s technical workforce after managing the team’s cost-cap resources carefully. The recruitment effort is intended to give Loïc Serra the human resources needed to improve both the execution of current projects and the development of future cars.
Ferrari has already chosen a race-by-race development strategy for the SF-26, while Charles Leclerc has urged the team to remain aggressive in the upgrade battle. Strengthening the engineering structure should provide additional support as the Scuderia attempts to combine short-term development with preparations for the next generation of machinery.
Mercedes, by contrast, appears to be experiencing a period of staff departures. Claire Simpson has moved to Williams, while reliability chief Robert Miller has chosen to join Audi.
Ferrari is moving in the opposite direction by reinforcing its departments. The current appointments continue the wider personnel overhaul introduced under Fred Vasseur, who has previously acknowledged that the Maranello team was understaffed in certain areas compared with rivals such as Red Bull, Mercedes and Aston Martin.
More Ferrari engineering appointments expected after summer break
Ferrari has not formally announced the two latest recruits. Instead, Luciano Nicomede and Carlos Sánchez Martínez chose to publicise their own arrivals at the team and confirm that they had begun working within Ferrari’s racing division.
Attention will now turn to the remaining engineers expected to join during the second half of the season. Around five new arrivals are reportedly planned in total, meaning another three appointments could follow once the relevant gardening periods have ended.
Some of those future recruits may be more prominent figures than the first two additions. However, it remains too early to establish who they will be, and further clarity is expected only after Formula 1 activity resumes following the summer holiday.
The appointments underline Ferrari’s determination to build a stronger technical structure around Loïc Serra and Fabio Montecchi. Following a first half of the season that produced major victories but also repeated missed opportunities, Fred Vasseur is working to ensure the team has the expertise and depth required to compete more consistently at the front.
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