When Frederic Vasseur joined the Ferrari Scuderia last January, he faced a rather complex task: shaping the technical organization of the Prancing Horse after Mattia Binotto’s departure. The French manager reassigned strategist Inaki Rueda to other duties and let aerodynamicist David Sanchez go, heading towards McLaren, explicitly expressing his unwillingness to retain those people who wanted to leave.
The situation regarding Laurent Mekies was more complicated, with the Frenchman, described by Fred Vasseur as a “pillar” of the Maranello team, reaching an agreement with AlphaTauri to take on the role of team principal. This led to a standoff with Red Bull to release the Frenchman before the end of his contract, resulting in the unusual situation of Laurent Mekies at the Ferrari pit wall, despite the official announcement made by the Faenza-based team.
What will happen with the new Ferrari structure
Italian daily newspaper Corriere dello Sport revealed what will happen in the coming months in Maranello: “Laurent Mekies […] is a weapon to free a couple of key technical figures from the Red Bull world for Maranello.” According to the Roman newspaper, Laurent Mekies’ departure could indeed become a reality between the summer break and the Monza race in early September, and he has obviously been excluded from any discussions regarding the 2024 project.
The responsibilities at the pit wall currently held by Laurent Mekies, who is the current sporting director, will be partially taken over by Diego Ioverno, who will return to a leadership position during race weekends after six years. According to the Corriere dello Sport newspaper, Frederic Vasseur intends to include a technical director, “harmonizing” with Enrico Cardile, who reconsidered his intentions to leave after recognizing the trust placed in him by the new team principal.
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The motto of the French engineer could be summarized as “no indispensable figures, but all are necessary,” following the hierarchical model used by Mercedes, which is more flexible compared to that of Red Bull. Journalist Fulvio Solms finally hypothesized that the unveiling of the new structure will occur “in September, perhaps already at Monza.”
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