Ferrari staff exodus: what the 2026 season could mean according to former team principal. Former Ferrari team principal comments on the recent departures from Ferrari’s engine department.

With the 2025 chapter now officially closed, Ferrari has turned its attention fully toward the 2026 Formula 1 season. However, the staff departures seen in recent months have cast a shadow over what is shaping up to be an extremely important year for the team from Maranello. While every team faces uncertainty heading into an all-new regulatory era, Ferrari must also come to terms with the scale of the losses suffered in its power-unit department.

The exits of Wolf Zimmermann and Lars Schmidt from Ferrari’s engine division have sparked significant concern among fans and industry insiders. Both engineers played central roles in shaping the 2026 Power Unit project, and their decision to leave Maranello for the Audi programme naturally raised alarms within the Ferrari camp. Losing two senior figures involved in long-term development inevitably fuels speculation about possible setbacks.

During the post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix episode of Race Anatomy, former Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene was asked by presenter Vicky Piria about the potential impact these departures could have on Ferrari’s 2026 performance.

Arrivabene expresses doubts but also reassurance

Maurizio Arrivabene began by cautioning that only those inside the team truly understand its internal dynamics and the organisational structure being prepared for the upcoming regulation change. “To answer perfectly, one would need to know the mechanisms within the team and the type of organisation they have in mind to face the new rules,” he said. “I cannot give you a technically precise answer, but I can say one thing to reassure the fans. If these people are leaving at this time of year, it means the engine has already been signed off. So it’s not an enormous loss.”

The real issue, however, is not what Ferrari loses in terms of immediate development, but rather what knowledge the two engineers may be carrying with them to their next employer. On this point, Maurizio Arrivabene urged caution. “You have to understand what they are leaving behind for the team, and especially what they are bringing to the competition. If they managed to pull the classic rabbit out of the hat, then it could be a problem despite the gardening leave period,” the Italian manager warned.

According to Maurizio Arrivabene, the main risk is therefore not a slowdown in Ferrari’s internal progress, but the potential competitive advantage that Audi could gain by inheriting the know-how accumulated by Zimmermann and Schmidt during their years in Maranello. Even if the 2026 engine is already approved, the strategic insights, design philosophies, and development approaches known by these engineers remain highly valuable.

This situation also follows a pattern seen before at Ferrari, where key figures leaving the team later enjoyed considerable success elsewhere. Notable examples include Laurent Mekies, now team principal of Red Bull following Christian Horner’s departure, and Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal who led the outfit to both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ World Championships. Their trajectories demonstrate that departures from Maranello can sometimes translate into major gains for other teams.

Ferrari now faces the dual challenge of protecting its own technical foundation while preventing competitors from capitalising on what its former engineers know — a delicate balance that will only become more critical as the 2026 season approaches. For the moment, Maurizio Arrivabene’s message is cautiously optimistic: the engine is already approved, but the real danger may lie in how effectively rivals use the expertise that has just walked out the door.