#winning. LDM's ''take over'' of his idea of a Ferrari team has been unsuccessful. F2007 & 08 where cars based of the 2006 F248, and especially the 2008 car should've been much better. None of their own cars have been as good as they should've been. Glad he's gone.
I think turning LdM loose is a mistake. He has brought us 8 WCCs and made the road car business into one of the world's most recognized brands. This is not done by accident. He also looks and talks the part of Ferrari CEO and has been an incredible ambassador for the marque. Mattiacci is being promoted beyond his competence and I'm not seeing how he would improve anything for years to come. Nor am I sure that Brawn 2.0 would go any better than did MS 2.0. It's change for the sake of change and we may well be locked into a decade of following M-B, McL, the Drinks Company, Williams, and [gack] Renault around the track.
Road car biz and the F1 are 2 completely different. 6 of these WCC's where because of Schumacher, Todt, Brawn and Byrne. Todt had LDM right where he wanted him, playing with his road car business whilst Todt was taking care running the team correctly. LdM was a bit annoyed with this Todt getting all the praise, disbanded the team and the result is 2 titles which where still the fruits of the 2006 car. I'm not sure how you can say that Mattiachi is beyond his competence, or that brawn will not be as good (look at the Merc team HE assembled and how it's doing now! Car is immense.
Spanish translations per google sound like the way for Luca exit is being made, just not complete yet. Luca Cordero di Montezemolo has spoken out in front of the Ferrari motorhome : not resign . It will continue to work with Marco Mattiacci , head of the Scuderia , although the Italian president has itself submitted its resignation to the shareholder of the house of Maranello.
Strong rumors that the Ferrari CEO is being let go. Has anyone else heard that and what is fueling this - F1 performance, financial performance, model development, politics -- ?
Ive read a ton of rumors- they are all that until someone confirms them. When you get people in powerful positions you'll have a lot of haters saying and wishing all kinds of things. One day he will step down or leave but who knows when.
I have to agree, in part, with both of you: LCdM has been very good for the Brand Name and for the cars we are able to buy today. When it comes to the F 1 though, IMO he did the unthinkable: he had a winning team and he worked real hard to disband it, with the results we all know. Ross Brawn (my opinion again) is the kind of SoB (intended as a compliment here) that is needed to head a F 1 team to victory. RB and MS cannot be compared: the two jobs are completely different and have very different life spans. A pilot has a relatively short competitive life span (MS and VR are perfect examples), while a race team director becomes competitive later in life, but can remain competitive much longer. BTW, the rumor is that LCdM is being offered the job at the new Alitalia + Etihad.
Rumors! Anyway, LDM doesn't have the right skill set to work for Alitalia. That would be a mistake for both parties!
If he leaves ferrari then mclaren is the only option. He needs to spread some of that ferrari emotion over there
Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo denies plans to step down - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com > Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo insisted on Saturday that he has no intention of stepping down from his role, as he made clear he wants to stay for three more years.
Could Ross Brawn be saying Yes, only if LdM leaves? Doubt he would have that kind of bargaining power. But who knows?
Ron Dennis is majority shareholder at Mclaren and has just taken back the CEO role, so that's wishful thinking. LdM is Chairman not CEO of Ferrari. Ferrari is still a highly successful business. Italy's economy however is in dire straights and if LdM is about to move I assume it can only be to take a high level government role. At 67, with his huge reputation and deeply impressive resume, it would be a fitting "last big thing" to help his country.
He is retirement age, so calling it quits is in the cards at some point not too far off. He has done a great job for Ferrari, whatever disagreements some of us may have had over specific things. The old man picked him out at a very young age and he was right. LdM bucked the almost universal trend that sends a company downhill after the originator and charismatic leader leaves the scene. We will see if his successor, whenever he takes over, can continue the winning streak.
If I were him, I would only leave after the team starts winning again... and leave on a winning note.
