Ferrari's sell well despite the team. If he leaves no loss. LdM is old news. Stefano is not the only issue here. Sooner or later LdM will leave and guess what. Ferrari will continue. Now or 2 years from now. No one is immune from being expendable. LdM is not Ferrari.
If Luca leaves no loss? Are you serious? The company was in a sorry state before Luca was made President and so was their F1 team. The company was in huge debt and the team hadn't won a constructors in eight years and a drivers championship in twelve years. Under Luca the company's fortunes turned around and last year was their most profitable. Enzo would be VERY proud of Luca. VERY. 8 constructors championships under his reign equalling Enzo's total. (16 in their entire history) Some people have short and selective memories.
He will leave. Life goes on. Ferrari will as well. 2 days or 2 years from now. Should we clone him. Some people actually need to open their minds to even more change for things to improve even more. Stefano is far from the only issue.
There is a vast difference between change for the long term done properly as part of a succession plan and giving a ridiculously successful president the boot in the biggest knee jerk reaction in automotive history because you think he would be 'no loss' because he's 'old news'. Thankfully I doubt anyone at Fiat will share your opinion.
LDM may not be Ferrari, but he is very much TODAY's Ferrari. He turned the company around when they were in a sorry state and helped to make them what they are today.
Very true, he also dug the hole he is in today. A smarter president would have kept the likes of Ross Brawn having already won numerous WDC & WCC
Interesting analysis of the choice of MM to replace SD: Why Ferrari chose Marco Mattiacci to replace Stefano Domenicali - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com
LdM was a great CEO for the company, there is no two ways to look at it. The numbers don't lie, neither does the brand appreciation. Also, there were 8 world titles under his stewardship, that's a success. The one thing CEO's - especially non-founding CEO's - cannot do, however, is presume themselves irreplaceable. I'm not saying LdM believes that he is irreplaceable, but some of his actions betray certain over-confidence. He has gotten away with most of it, so far, but one thing that is not evident is a succession plan within Ferrari. As years go by he seems more and more "distracted". And the Elkann brothers seem to be more and more interested in the goings on at Fiat, particularly John as Lapo is on the crazier side of things. Marchionne obviously has the majority of the board's attention - as it should be - but I would not rule out more and more of that attention being directed toward LdM, particularly with the Ferrari name being associated with a losing F1 team. As in the real world, pressure seems to affect the bottom more than the top. I think LdM has at least a couple more years of Ferrari, but I will not be surprised if these episodes are the beginning of the end for him. And thinking him a wise man I believe he will step down while the company is at its best. Perhaps that will take another WDC/WCC, or perhaps it will just take the sale of some California T's and a few more Maserati's in strategically important markets. Whichever comes fastest. It's looking like the latter.
BINGO, we have a winner. Marco now is the inside bet to replace Luca, just as John Elkann will be Marchioni's replacement. Lapo will end up in a senior position as well.
Marco Mattiacci may have been a golden boy for the sales of Ferrari the world over, but to win races one needs to have different qualities, IMO. My pick would have been Mario Andretti, because having been a racer himself he commands respect and has the necessary carisma as well as balls for that kind of job. Best of all, having been on both sides of the fence, he knows better than most, what it takes to win races.
If this is accurate...it is great! Inside Line: Ferrari pave the way for the return of Ross Brawn to Maranello | Grand Prix 247
Any news on Bob Bell? Ferrari or Mclaren? He knows one or two things about Mercedes' superiority, but I think he might collide with Allison's duties.
The same goes for me too. Actually it's too early for Brawn to make his move. He took one year off...to get rest!
It makes a lot of sense to me, too. I still don't believe Brawn will return, but it can certainly happen if they free up the $$ that Kimi + Alonso costs them. Like I said in my earlier post, I see Luca at Ferrari as CEO at the most until 2016. Marco just might be the perfect replacement within Ferrari.
For me there was no reason to make this break. I still believe that he is one of the best and leading technicians in the sport and he still has to give a lot.. Time will tell.
At least the tifosis will be happy: they had their "pound of flesh". It's the technical team which should get worried now; as the saying goes "new broom sweeps clean" and the new incumbent at the gestiona sportive is soon to get some scalps!! I think the Brits handle these things so much better than the Italians: just look at McLaren, the transition went without drama. Stiff upper lip and all that ...
