Ferrari has entered Formula 1’s summer shutdown with its technical recruitment campaign already gathering momentum. Ahead of the mandatory two-week closure of the Gestione Sportiva, the Maranello team moved to strengthen areas of its technical department where additional expertise was considered necessary, with two engineers recently arriving and further additions expected during the second half of 2026.
Some of those new profiles are likely to be relatively unknown outside Formula 1’s technical circles, while others could be more familiar names within the paddock. The moves form part of a broader Ferrari technical recruitment drive launched after the first half of the season again showed that the team is not yet fully mature enough to win consistently. Ferrari has made mistakes and missed opportunities to maximise the potential of the SF-26 on weekends when the car has been competitive.
Ferrari technical recruitment continues under Frédéric Vasseur
For that reason, team principal Frédéric Vasseur has chosen to reinforce the organisation as part of the constant staff turnover that characterises Formula 1. Recruitment has to be planned well in advance because engineers moving between rival teams are often subject to gardening leave before they are allowed to begin work with their new employer, one of the biggest obstacles to rapid personnel movement in the paddock.
For now, Ferrari has welcomed two figures from Mercedes and Aston Martin. Luciano Nicomede has arrived from Brackley as Senior Chassis Composite Designer, while Carlos Sánchez Martínez has left Aston Martin to become Chassis Stress Engineering Specialist. Their appointments form part of the wider effort through which Ferrari is strengthening Loïc Serra’s technical structure at Maranello.
The new engineers are not arriving solely to support the final push of the 2026 season. Their timing also allows them to reinforce Loïc Serra’s group immediately after the main specifications of Ferrari’s 2027 Formula 1 car have been defined and as its development programme begins. That makes the recruitment campaign relevant both to the closing stages of the current championship and to the longer-term direction of the technical department, with Ferrari already connecting the SF-26 development programme with its 2027 project.
Ferrari’s summer shutdown is only a pause on paper
The recently arrived engineers also had the opportunity to take part in an event organised by Frédéric Vasseur before the shutdown. The team principal used the occasion to thank the Gestione Sportiva staff for their efforts during the opening part of the championship, a period in which Ferrari has not been the leading force but has nevertheless returned to winning ways and established itself in second place in the standings.
It was effectively a final thank-you before sending the team on holiday for the mandatory summer shutdown and the stoppage of normal Formula 1 activities. The first half of Ferrari’s campaign has produced encouraging results alongside missed opportunities, something also reflected in Frédéric Vasseur’s assessment of Ferrari’s 2026 progress before the championship resumes.
On paper, the shutdown means factories are closed, meetings are suspended and staff are away on holiday around the world. In practice, however, the ideas in people’s heads do not simply disappear. Attention inevitably remains fixed on the final part of the championship and on what can be improved once normal activity resumes.
Ideas and emails continue during Formula 1’s summer break
According to information obtained indirectly by ScuderiaFans from a source, members of Formula 1 teams continue exchanging emails during the summer shutdown in preparation for the return to work. Those messages can concern how activities should be organised after the break or ideas to be revisited once the factories reopen.
The result is that the first day back can effectively become a session devoted to downloading, reading and answering the emails accumulated during the holiday period. Even when the doors are closed and the championship temporarily pauses, the thought process behind Formula 1 never entirely disappears.
For Ferrari, that return will carry particular importance. The technical department will resume work with new personnel being integrated into Loïc Serra’s structure, further recruits still expected and two projects demanding attention at the same time: extracting as much as possible from the SF-26 over the remainder of 2026 while laying the foundations for the 2027 car. In Formula 1, even the summer shutdown rarely feels like a complete stop.
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