As we approach the middle of the month of May, it appears there are other goings on in Formula One land besides Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes. Ferrari have on the quiet been restructuring their team operations and as the closest challenger to the world championship winning team, Fred Vasseur appears to be making progress.

The iconic Italian reed liveried team this week tested a huge upgrade to the car at a ‘filming’ day win Italy. If we believe the Italian media, this will bring four tenths of a second of lap time, which coincidentally is the average gap Ferrari find themselves behind Red Bull this season. Wishful thinking or reality? We shall find out in a few hours.

 

 

 

Ferrari have the honour of being the only team currently racing who were there when it all began at Silverstone way back in 1950, yet the burden of being the only “national” F1 team at times has weighed heavy on the Italian squad. By the end of this year it will be seventeen seasons the Scuderia have prevailed without a single F1 title. 

It was recently announced that Ferrari had poached two key individuals from Brackley in the form of Mercedes performance director Loic Serra and driver development director Jerome d’Ambrosio. The latter had been identified as Toto Wolff’s stand in last year for the races he decided not to attend and so his title at the silver arrows is somewhat misleading.

Mercedes losses have been the gains for both Red Bull and Ferrari as the former world champions continue to reel from their inability to unlock the secrets of the 2022 ground effect rule change.

Yet of course in the modern era of spending caps, Ferrari cannot continue to accumulate staff without making some internal changes themselves, the latest coming as somewhat of a surprise to their star driver Charles Leclerc. But at times the recruitment processes in Formula One are convoluted and the outgoing incumbents often find themselves ‘relocated’ before finally leaving a team.

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It came to light during the media day in Emilia-Romagne that Charles Leclerc played no part in the decision to remove his race engineer following the Miami Grand Prix. The latest reorganisation in Maranello has seen Xavier Marcos removed from his seat on the pit wall and replaced by Bryan Bozzi who had previously worked as Leclerc’s performance engineer.

The relationship between the pit wall engineer and a driver is crucial to a team, given during a race weekend he is the single funnel through which all communication from the driver about the state of the track, weather and car is funnelled. So it was a somewhat unconvincing performance from Leclerc when he claimed there would be no disruption to his or the team’s regime as the cars hit the track inn Italy.

“Obviously, it’s very tight in the front and everything makes a difference,” Leclerc informed the assembled media.

“However, the decision was made between the team and Xavi. They’ve had other plans in mind, I guess. It was communicated to me right after Miami.”

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Leclerc attempts to make light of the impact of Ferrari’s decision given his relationship with Bozzi since he joined the team.

“Having said that, Bryan, who will take the role of Xavi from now onwards, is a person I have been working with since I arrived in Ferrari.

“He’s always been my performance engineer, so he knows exactly how everything works. It’s not like I’m starting from zero and it’s going to be a complete adaptation.

“It’s been super smooth until now and I’m sure that it will continue that way and we will be at our 100% already from this weekend.”

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Of course now all the attention is focused on the regular pit radio spats between Marcos and Leclerc, when the monegasque driver has been at odds with team decisions during races. The suggestion could be made that Xaviers removal form the Ferrari pit wall is due to poor communication. Leclerc heads this off at the pass before the story gathers pace.

“I think communication has always been a big thing since we worked with Xavi,” said Leclerc.

“We always try and communicate as much as possible. This is the way I work to try and have the best picture overall.

“As I said, I think we’ll focus on having the smoothest transition possible and then we’ll focus on the things that matter to us. I don’t think it was a particular problem in the past.”

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Meanwhile the debate continues to rage in the Italian media over whether the team have sacked a future F1 world champion, for one whose powers are on the wain. Senior F1 correspondent for the Associated Press, Ian Parkes, has now questioned the response from the Ferrari fans should Carlos Sainz go and win the race in Imola this weekend.

A Ferrari win is more probable this weekend given the huge amount of upgrades they are bringing to the car. McLaren proved they could deliver big modifications to their car on the Sprint weekend in Miami and at the same time make them work, as Lando Norris went on to win the Grand Prix.

Parkes reveals his one on one interview with Fred Vasseur unearthed the fact that the Ferrari boss found the conversation with Sainz “difficult.”

“He ultimately believed that the right decision has been made, and for the long-term future of the team, that Charles [Leclerc] remains the better bet than Carlos. Of course, he’s going to stick by his guns.

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“But if Carlos does win again, we can ask him the same question on Sunday evening in Imola: ‘have you made the right decision?’ and we’ll get our answer from him. Of course he’s going to say: yes he made the right decision. He’s not going to turn around and say ‘no’, why would he?

Parkes outlines the possibility of a tifosi rebellion if their Spanish driver goes and claims a victory for Ferrari on home soil. 

“It’s really going to start becoming a serious subject of debate [in Italy] if Carlos goes and wins, the fans are gonna be saying: ‘why him, why have we let him go, why have we retained Charles? Because he’s the guy that’s won us, not only the last two grand prix, could be three grand prix if he goes and wins in Imola.”

Given the Italian media’s response to the announcement Hamilton is joining the team next year, its a hairs breadth before the Italian public revolt becomes more widespread.

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Now, Italian F1 engineer Toni Cuquerella has praised Sainz for his stunning start to 2024. He believes without the forced absence from the Saudi Grand Prix due to illness, Carlos would be up there with his team mate in the driver standings.

“I think that, if you take away the points, because there was a race that Carlos couldn’t do, it is making Ferrari rethink whether they did the right thing or not,” reported DAZN.

“Whoever made the decision is going to have a bad end of the year.”

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Ferrari new MEGA offer to tempt Newey

Engineering legend Adrian Newey is set to continue his F1 career with Ferrari say some sources. According to a media report, the 65-year-old has already signed a contract with Maranello. He could be earning a salary that many current top-flight drivers can only dream of.

The Daily Mail reported late on Thursday that Adrian Newey’s move from Red Bull to Ferrari for the 2025 season is perfect. The British newspaper claims to have learned from unnamed Italian sources that the engineer’s contract with the Red team has “already been signed”…. READ MORE