Austrian former professional racing driver, current advisor to the Red Bull GmbH Formula One Teams and head of Red Bull’s driver development program Dr Helmut Marko has confirmed that Scuderia Ferrari have been making approaches for his staff, as the Maranello team looks to turn around their underwhelming start to the 2019 Formula One season. The Italian side has been looking to other teams for solutions after failing to win any of the first six races of the current championship.
Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto recently confirmed that he was considering bringing Simone Resta back to the team. Resta was chief designer at Ferrari before leaving for Sauber – since rebadged as Alfa Romeo – in May 2018. Mattia Binotto has come under scrutiny for combining the roles of team principal and chief technical officer – with the SF90’s below-par performance and Ferrari’s questionable strategy calls seen as proof that he has bitten off more than he can chew.
As well as Resta, Ferrari were reported to have made an approach for Marco Adurno, who is responsible for data analysis and simulation at Red Bull. Marko confirmed that Adurno could well be on his way to Maranello, but played down it having a significant impact on Red Bull. Marko told Auto Bild: “That’s right, but that is quite normal. There is a constant rotation on a technical level between us, Ferrari and the other teams. That is not news for me.” – he explained.
Red Bull recently saw Toro Rosso’s chief technical officer James Key depart for McLaren, with Marko having made the British team wait s long as possible to hire him, and even reportedly attempting to have Lando Norris traded as a makeweight.
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