Ferrari believes that current uncertainty over the outcome of Brexit could prove beneficial for its Formula 1 team, in terms of recruitment. A referendum held in the United Kingdom in mid-2016 delivered a majority outcome for Leave, and the UK Government is in the process of trying to get a deal through Parliament, having been approved by European Union leaders.
The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, 2019.
There remains uncertainty over the regulations defining freedom of movement for both UK and European citizens; seven of the 10 Formula 1 teams are based within close proximity in the South of England.
Scuderia Ferrari, along with Sauber and Toro Rosso, has sometimes struggled to recruit its favoured candidates due to being outside of that sphere of teams.
Scuderia Ferrari Tea Principal Maurizio Arrivabene admitted that the Maranello team could benefit from Brexit – but accepts the current situation is far from ideal for Formula 1: “Of course, the situation is not ideal for Formula 1 so I have [faith] that they will be able, the proper authority, they will be able to find a solution,” he said – “I mean, looking at the situation into the future, I’m thinking about the solution for the overall Formula 1. If I’m looking at the situation from the Ferrari perspective, if everything is going in the direction that is announced at the moment, I suspect that in the near future we will find a lot of people that they’re knocking on the door of Maranello. But it’s not really the best scenario, talking about the overall Formula 1, so I hope they find a solution, not only for Formula 1 in general that could accommodate any kind of historical cooperation, and is going to look forward for the future and think about the best development for all of us.” – Ferrari’s Team Principal explained.
Toto Wolff, whose Mercedes’ Formula 1 operations is split between its Brackley factory and the engine base at nearby Brixworth, both in the UK, hit out at the political developments:
“We are monitoring it very closely because as Mercedes we have a large operation in the UK,” he said – “Our motorsport division, call it 1800 people, with a large percentage of EU citizens working for the team. Personally, I try to stay out of politics but this topic is very close to my heart because we forget why we ended up with the European [Union], 70 years ago there was a war and the European thinking was to prevent that in the future. In times where everything changes in the last two years, nationalism coming up in various countries, new alliances forming, others breaking up. My personal opinion – I’m not speaking for Mercedes – is here that we should be looking very carefully at the situation and not risk the economy of a country. So, it is a factor for us, as I mentioned the EU citizens working for us, we are importing lots of goods from the EU, we have taken steps to make sure they are not stuck on the border. Overall, not a very pleasant development.”
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