Ferrari: Top management has granted full powers to Maranallo F1 racing department

The beginning of Scuderia Ferrari’s 2024 Formula 1 campaign has certainly been very encouraging. The Maranello team has effectively maximized all the results achieved so far in the first four races of the 2024 world championship in this competitive season, even managing to secure a memorable one-two finish at the 5.278-kilometre Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne with Carlos Sainz ahead of Charles Leclerc, taking advantage of the first real technical problems encountered by the Red Bull car of Max Verstappen after about two years.

The work done so far by team principal Frederic Vasseur has been excellent, and it is clear to everyone how, in the last 15 months, there has been a serenity for the working environment in Maranello that has been missing for many years. The credit of the French manager has been to reorganize the factory organization, removing those elements that under the disastrous management of Mattia Binotto committed real atrocities, such as former Head of Race Strategy Inaki Rueda, rather than Chief Engineer David Sanchez, who moved to McLaren and then left Woking after just three months.

The Ferrari SF-24 single-seater has quickly overcome the huge difficulties caused by its predecessor, the last one left by the curly-haired Italian engineer Mattia Binotto, and honestly, his absence is not felt in Italy, at least from a managerial point of view. Frederic Vasseur has given the freedom to use their own judgment and to do exactly as they wish to technicians like Italian aerodynamicist Enrico Cardile and Technical Director of Power Unit Enrico Gualtieri, and the results are now evident. Red Bull certainly remains distant, but much less so than a few months ago. Not to mention that the first evolution of the Maranello single-seater is ready to hit the track at Imola next month to try to further close the gap on the reigning world champions. That’s the clear target for Ferrari.

F1|Ferrari: John Elkann’s clear change

During Mattia Binotto’s tenure, Scuderia Ferrari was criticized for the lack of leadership from the ownership. John Elkann, who has been president since the untimely passing of Sergio Marchionne back in 2018, has always been very introverted, at least publicly: he made questionable statements, and for a long time it seemed that the Formula 1 racing team didn’t interest him much. In short, everything was a bit left to itself, and indeed the results never came, in fact, the Maranello team had to endure the humiliation of being caught red-handed between 2019 and 2020 due to irregularities of the power unit, which penalized them for a couple of seasons.

A sort of disguised disqualification, so to speak. Clearly, we have no idea what the deal with the FIA was, but well, in reality we’ve all got a bit of an idea, and that alone would have been enough to send those responsible for this blunder home, honestly quite embarrassing for a brand, a name, and a history like Ferrari’s. With the corporate reshuffle, the exit of chief executive officer Louis Carey Camilleri due to health reasons, and the arrival of Benedetto Vigna, the company took a first turn, then the focus shifted to the racing team with the belated, more than ever, departure of Mattia Binotto and the arrival of a racing man like Frederic Vasseur.

Handing everything over to such a figure was essential, and any initial attempts by the company, see Benedetto Vigna himself, to meddle with the decisions of the new head of the Racing Department were rendered futile. Fred Vasseur had to and must be given free rein, the freedom to make decisions as he believes is best, there should be no interference, and that’s what has been happening in Ferrari over the past year, to the extent that we no longer hear any Formula 1-related sentences from the former Apple CEO, while John Elkann, probably, has figured out how to move in recent times, stepping in when necessary.

F1|Ferrari: Elkann is already thinking about Lewis Hamilton

The president of Ferrari had only one goal since Frederic Vasseur became the team principal of the historic Italian team: to bring Lewis Hamilton to Maranello and give the red car, once again, a seven-time world champion, thereby matching, if we can call it that, the record of the Mercedes team, the only Formula 1 team to date to have had two champions with the highest number of championships won.

Even the president’s way of doing things at Ferrari has changed diametrically, evidently experience pays off even for such a high-ranking profile, fully supporting the return to the FIA World Endurance Championship with the 499P, and believe it or not, the team won at Le Mans after 50 years of absence. Taking everything into consideration, the path set by the new Ferrari top management could lead to exciting results in the coming years, which is what all us Ferrari fans hope for, and perhaps the entire Formula 1 movement in general.

In a letter sent to Exor shareholders, chairman John Elkann reinforces these arguments, seeing a bright future for Ferrari in the racing world: He states that in 2024, they will accelerate efforts to build strong enterprises by aligning ownership, governance, and leadership. The chief executive officer of Exor highlights the Ferrari Formula One team as a positive example of this progress, noting their strong start to the 2024 season with multiple podium finishes.

Additionally, the head of Ferrari’s F1 operations refers to Lewis Hamilton’s philosophy. He emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and improvement in racing and life, echoing Exor’s values of ambition and humility.

Mentioning Lewis Hamilton in the letter is not accidental: John Elkann has been at the forefront of negotiating with the British Formula 1 champion, he has spoken about it several times with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, and the Austrian himself knew that sooner or later Lewis Hamilton’s move to Maranello would indeed become a reality. The Englishman has sensed the difficulties Mercedes has faced in recent years, perhaps he also felt a bit sidelined since 2022 when he wasn’t listened to by the engineers on the direction they should take in order to improve the car, and then, the progress made by Scuderia Ferrari this year is evident. Are these signs of a glorious future in Formula 1 for the historic Scuderia Ferrari?