Former Ferrari engineer Luigi Mazzola weighs in on Maranello team principal debate

Former Ferrari engineer Luigi Mazzola weighs in on Maranello team principal debate. Luigi Mazzola weighs in on Maranello team principal debate.

For the past week, Mattia Binotto’s resignation from the role of team principal and managing director of Scuderia Ferrari has been official. The Italian manager will continue to carry out his duties until 31 December, then after 28 years of an amazing career in Maranello he will leave the red overalls in view of a future which is not yet certain: for now there are several team that have already knocked on the door of the former head of the Ferrari Racing Division.

“Like a bolt from the blue”. – in this way Luigi Mazzola – in turn with a twenty-year past in Ferrari as an engineer dedicated to research and development – described Mattia Binotto’s exit on the occasion of the meeting entitled ‘The Drake. Stories of circuits, races and icons’ which took place on Sunday afternoon at the headquarters of the Dino Zoli Foundation in Forlì. The Ferrari motto by Mattia Binotto was #essereFerrari (Be Ferrari) and according to the former Maranello Race Engineer this motto must first of all start from a winning mentality: “The concept of Ferrari needs to be reformed, essentially based on a winning mentality. A competent group must be reformed that is united and that has a single objective, which is to make the car a winner, that is, one that can compete to win a championship.” – Luigi Mazzola explained.

This combination, a fundamental ‘chemistry’ to take advantage of every opportunity that arises on the track, has not been encountered by Luigi Mazzola in the recent past. The term of comparison available to the engineer from personal experience, however, is difficult for anyone to match: “I was lucky enough to experience Ferrari’s best years with Ross Brawn, who was a true leader and a person who was able to keep the team united. I haven’t seen this during the 2022 Formula 1 season and I haven’t seen this in previous years. This must be the real change that Ferrari must set as its goal” – said the former Ferrari executive coordinator of performance development, who left the Maranello team in 2009.

The future of Scuderia Ferrari in terms of organizational structure is yet to be known and it cannot be excluded that Maranello could make its next move based on the ‘Red Bull model’ which divides the tasks and responsibilities associated with operations on the top level of management to a team of three people, with the clear goal of aiming for both Formula 1 championships.