Italian businessman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, former Chairman of Ferrari, reflects on the Maranello team’s difficulties and the seperation between Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel:
Was the F1 “marriage” between Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari in the end just a misunderstanding?
Luca di Montezemolo: “No, absolutely not. Sebastian never caused any trouble, always worked for the team. He took wins that others would not have taken, in a car that was not always competitive. I didn’t like the timing and I didn’t like they way they have done the separation with Seb. There are always changes in life. But it’s all about the way you do it!”
Montezemolo about Scuderia Ferrari’s struggles: “We paid a very high price in 2014. We underestimated the complexity of the new power unit project. In comparison to Germany, there was also no hybrid culture here in Italy…Unfortunately the problems came after 2014. The people who ran Ferrari then had neither experience in Formula One nor competence for Formula One, and they thought that you could win quickly in Formula One just like that…”
Montezemolo says one big mistake was to let go of James Allison: “I mention him, but I could also mention others. And then mistakes were made by transferring very good engineers from road car production to F1. Completely different skills are required there. Enzo always told me that if there is the best driver, I should get him. The same goes for the engineers. We have to hire the best people to improve the performance. And these engineers must help the young talents among them to grow.”
Leave a Reply