Thats nice Fred but you were easily replaced at Renault and have zero winning history in F1 at all. Good luck. More than likely you wont be part of the 'evolution' given how Ferrari use a revolving door policy for you position! One can hope they give you the time. History is not on your side. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ferrari-is-miles-away-from-perfect-f1-structure-says-vasseur/10503297/ Ferrari is "miles away" from perfect F1 structure, says Vasseur Ferrari Formula 1 boss Fred Vasseur says that the Italian team is “miles away” from having the perfect structure and seeking one will involve a "permanent evolution". Former Alfa Romeo team principal Vasseur took the reins at Maranello in January after the departure of Mattia Binotto. One of his main tasks was to strengthen the team with some key hirings, a task made harder by the time it takes to recruit key personnel who are tied down by gardening leave. The job was then made even more difficult by the departures of two leading Ferrari players, with race director Laurent Mekies destined for AlphaTauri, and senior design engineer David Sanchez heading for McLaren, leaving gaps that have to be filled. Vasseur has already recruited Mercedes performance director Loic Serra, although he is not expected to be able to start work until 2025 as things stand. Asked how close he was to having the team he wants in place, Vasseur said that the task will never end. "We are miles away because when you are doing my job you don't have to imagine that there is a perfect structure,” he said. “You always need to improve, and always need to change things. If you stay with the same structure two years in a row then you are dead, because all the others will improve. “It means that I don't have a clear picture to say I have to do this, and full stop, and it will work. It would be stupid. “We will make some changes in the coming weeks, in the coming months, in the coming years, because some topics are a bit longer than some others. But it's a permanent evolution and permanent improvement.”
I´m always hearing this of "Vasseur did nothing, etc..." but his record previous to F1 is better than Toto´s or Horner´s. And at least he had some F1 experience before getting to a top team, so we should judge him for whatever he does in the future, not for his history.
+1 The Chaos he found himself in at Renault and couldn't change a thing due to their insane structure isn't his fault. No manager can fix Ferrari in a short amount of time. It really is a 3 year project at bare minimum to get it to REAL challengers not just occasional race winners.
I guess the next question is " why is Mekkies still at Ferrari given that he may be going to AT, sister team to RB! What better way to deflect attention, it will take time - state the obvious! Of course the task will never end but the Newey / Horner double act has to be the most successful partnership in F1. But you have to make the right decision at the right time for the right reason! Montezemolo found out that error and personally dont think FV is the man for the job. He isnt going to do it without British talent and a base in the UK, thats why all the top teams are here and for no other reason. Tony Please dont start the Barnard flop argument, its Ferrari that failed
Nope. It's a valid argument. Ferrari moving a base to the UK is not going to solve their problems. Barnard had everything at fingertips to be successful with Ferrari, and he couldn't do it. If that's not enough, then consider that James Allison and Pat Fry were technical directors at Ferrari, and brought many Brits with them. They failed to produce, pure and simple. Aside from Brawn, the Ferrari 'Dream Team' was mostly non-British nationals in the design department. They found talent from all over the world, not just the UK, and they dominated F1 with it. In case you need it pointed out, Enrico Balbo and Pierre Wache are not British, and they are Newey's two main men in his design department. The main thing holding Ferrari (and Mercedes) back is the current engine freeze and cost cap. Both could likely close the gap to Red Bull with engine upgrades, but because the latter know they can't compete with them, that hand has been tied behind Ferrari and Mercedes backs for this rules cycle.
To take the ****** nationalism out of it, can we replace the word “British” with “experienced in the crucible of F1 which happens to be located in the UK”. The actual nationality of a candidate for a role at SF is not important. Their talent and experience is all that counts. The talent may be god given but the experience often comes within 1/2 hour drive of Silverstone.
Well it’s fair to say a lot of compétences are coming from UK .. But I agree this is not enough to succeed.
John Barnards (JB) tenure at Ferrari was riddled with errors on both sides but the guy was severely undermined and had huge resistance from the political machinations within the factory. The hierarchy at SF hated the idea. A typical example that stood out for me was another department was set up and building another "secret" car alongside his back in the UK, Piero Lardi was fired from the racing department by Enzo because of it. There are many other examples in his book that reveal power struggles and a lack of engineering competence in Italy, One of the most stupid moves by Ferrari was selling the 1st UK factory to its biggest rival McLaren and then having to rebuild and finance a complete new factory some years later when JB was rehired!! In case you need reminding, although the engineers are not all British, where do they work, why do you think RBR, Mercedes, Williams, McLaren, Benetton, Tyrell, Lotus, were in the UK, not for the coffee. For the last 43 years UK based teams have won 33 titles.......pretty conclusive in my book. The expertise is in the UK, just like Silicone Valley in the US. How come James Allison is so successful at Mercedes or all of the other engineers employed by Ferrari who had a proven track record but failed at Maranello, The current freeze is holding the whole grid back, same when Mercedes dominated, RBR have found an advantage and now we are in for 5 -6 years of RBR domination. Tony
Thank god for Renault being the one having an even worse corporate structure, ever so slightly overshadowing us....
Toto bought his way into a winning team, plain and simple. Horner started from scratch but was given a budget and a political power never seen before. I don't want to despise their achievements, but what they've done is different to what Vasseur is facing, in an era of budget caps. Any comparison is unfair, specially in Vasseur's first year.
Absolutely true. Toto bought into what is essentially Apple, all he had to do (simplifying it a bit) was not **** up. Horner did start from scratch and had an incredible boss. The polical power was gained through buying Minardi, giving them an extra seat on the table of votes though I think in that regard it hasn't changed much, but the somewhat genuine threat of 2 teams leaving in 1 go was always somewhat there. Horner being as young as he was though and being given the keys to an entire F1 team was quite something. Vasseur doesn't have an easy job indeed. I get some hope from the fact he's seen similar top level insanity before at Renault which he left quite quickly, and he must surely have seen some possible way that Ferrari can still be fixed and that's why he's not run away just yet...
Mekies last selfie with trophy case and all the trophies won under his watch, LOL. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ahahah!! I still don’t get what was the importance of Mekies within the team.. Close to zero I guess.
Next year is our year ! https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-ferrari-2024-la-676-sara-un-taglio-netto-con-la-sf-23/10503828/
1. 8 years of mediocre results can't be blamed entirely on corporate hierarchy issues. I'm sure Barnard doesn't want to take much (if any) responsibility for his failure during his Ferrari years, but the fact remains, he was the technical director. He was given a blank check, his own office and R&D department, and he simply couldn't succeed in the new era of F1. The buck stops with him and has to take responsibility. 2. When the technical director, head of design, and strategy are all British at Ferrari, you can't then turn around and say "It wasn't British enough!". That excuse simply doesn't fly. There is no reason to think simply adding lower tier Brits in the design department would've made a difference, when Brits were leading all of the departments at Ferrari, and the latter still weren't winning titles. 3. James Allison is good, but he's no match for Newey. Keep in mind, he arrived at Mercedes when they had already won 4x titles, and the hard work in laying the foundations had been done by Aldo Costa and Paddy Lowe. You'll notice that now that the engines are closer and Costa and Lowe are gone, Mercedes are getting the same results with Allison that Ferrari did - at least right now. 4. In case you haven't noticed, Renault, Williams, and McLaren are UK teams, and they all such now. You know why? Because even if you're in the UK, getting the best talent still ain't easy. Most of the British talent isn't any better than what's in Italy, and that's just a fact. 5. The story of Ferrari's downfall is the same as the story of McLaren and Williams downfall,. They all thought they were so prestigious that they could take the talent they had for granted, and underpay them terribly. Luca? Love him, but he treated Aldo Costa badly and let him slip through his fingers. He thought Ferrari were so valuable, that he didn't an ace designer like him. Dennis did the same with Adrian Newey, Paddy Lowe and Neal Oatley. Williams? Well, who did they not piss off for greener pastures? 6. Ferrari also let simulation technology pass them by. When the in season testing ban was instituted, Ferrari have been in terrible denial about how far off their simulation equipment. Newey, OTOH, realized it was the wave of the future and trained an entire design department in it. It's the real secret to Red Bull's success right now. All of the previous Ferrari technical directors after Costa were also in denial about this. Again, McLaren, Williams, and Renault have also fallen down this hole. If Ferrari want to succeed in F1. well, they have to develop the hell out of the cars. They can't just launch a car, then call changing a mirror "development". They need to laugh off the cost cap like Red Bull and Mercedes do, and keep throwing ideas at their cars until they hit the jackpot. They also need to invest in better simulation technology, because what they have is below the gold standard at Newey's design department. Moving to the UK without changing that, will simply move Ferrari's problems to the UK.
