Major changes at Ferrari
Ferrari has fallen away from the pace-setting Mercedes team this year and needs to make a step forward if it is to start regularly challenging for even podium finishes.
After a difficult Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto confessed that the start of the year had been worse than the team had feared after testing, and was clear that everything was on the table in terms of what needed to be done differently.
“I think we saw in Barcelona [testing] that we were not fast enough, but we were not expecting such a difficult situation,” said Binotto after the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“With three races in a row, there are a couple of weeks before Silverstone and it will be important at Maranello to consider all the aspects of the car and the organisation: whatever it is we need to improve.”
To ensure this, Ferrari instituted a chain of command aiming for more focus and to simplify matters.
New Department
The Italian marquee also established a new Performance Development department. Head of Aero Development, Enrico Cardile, will lead the Performance Development sector.
However, one of the biggest changes is the return of the legendary Ferrari F1 car designer, Rory Byrne.
Meanwhile, Enrico Gualtieri remains in charge of the Power Unit, while Laurent Mekies retains his position as the Sporting Director. Finally, Simone Resta will stay on in the Chassis Engineering department.
Scuderia Ferrari is determined to claw its way back to the top
Team Principal Mattia Binotto confirmed the upheaval of the technical department within the organization. The outfit’s objective is to speed up design and development on the car performance front.
According to him, Ferrari needed a change of direction to clearly define the team’s responsibility and working processes. At the same time, they needed to reaffirm the company’s faith in its technical talent department.
Enrico Cardile can rely on the expertise and experience that Rory Byrne and David Sanchez have to offer.
Binotto continued, “We believe Ferrari personnel are of the highest level and we have nothing to envy about our main competitors in this respect, but we had to make a decisive change, raising the bar in terms of the responsibilities of the department heads.”
He insisted that Ferrari has begun to lay out a process to lead to a new and enduring winning cycle. Binotto is aware that success will not come overnight and the marquee will face plenty of setbacks.
Especially in terms of results and performance. However, he insisted that the team must effectively react to the shortcomings in order to weed them out completely and find their way back to their former glory.
He said that Ferrari needs to get back to being at the top of Formula One as soon as possible. Ferrari wants this and the Tifosi hailing from around the world are hoping for the same.