ARRIVABENE LEAVING FERRARI...

John Surtees was indeed a complex character; to this - and I won't comment further, because we would be derailing the thread for good - we have to add that Surtees had a difficult and tense relationship with Mike Parkes; basically, Parkes didn't like the fact that Surtees was a racing driver who thought he could also be a good engineer, and Surtees didn't like the fact that Mike Parkes was an engineer who thought he could be a good racing driver, so these two were not really on speaking terms, which added tension in the team.

Rgds

 

Yep/ Oui! - that part of the 60's was an interesting time in Racing as technology was expanding rapidly ... and engineering was becoming much more integral to racing.. and Surtees was still of the "seat of the pants" driver who wanted to engineer the car.

 

You are correct.
I just can't remember the other race where Surtees drove for Ferrari after his departure.

 

Technical; word of the year for 2019. Binotto and Vettel have it. There is a or was a feud going on within the ranks of Ferrari. I like the way Piero "graciously" admits Camilleri "needs work."

Piero Ferrari explains the revolution: "We gave technical continuity to the Scuderia"

The vice-president of the Cavallino has motivated with Gazzetta dello Sport the change at the top of the Sports Management with Binotto instead of Arrivabene. And Piero also blinds the role of CEO of Louis Camilleri: "He has just arrived, let him work".

The appointment of Mattia Binotto to Ferrari team principal gave a boost to the stock market on the Cavallino titles which, after a series of rebates, began to grow again, a sign that the uncertainty that prevailed in the Scuderia was also influencing the titles.

Piero Ferrari, in his role as vice-president and shareholder, had an active role in the revolution at the top of the Racing Department that led to the release of Maurizio Arrivabene, to give full powers to Mattia Binotto.

"Everything happened before Christmas - said the son of the founder to the Gazzetta dello Sport - then for various reasons we had decided not to divulge the decision. I do not want to go into details, also because I can only speak as a shareholder, but I only say that there was a confrontation between us members, with John Elkann and in the end we acted in the exclusive interest of Ferrari ".



You have followed the plan that was Marchionne ...
"You wrote a little 'all, but we wanted to preserve the technical continuity, without creating any disturbance in the structure of the Scuderia."

Piero also launches another very clear signal ...
"I say that we must allow enough time to work on Louis Camilleri who has just arrived in Ferrari and undoubtedly has his own style, different from that of Marchionne, which is in turn unique and inimitable".

This statement extinguishes the rumors of those who spoke of resounding returns to Maranello: Stefano Domenicali, current president and CEO of Lamborghini, was among the names sifted in Turin to succeed Marchionne after the premature death of the president. The former team principal is very close to Binotto: he was part of managerial poker, together with Luca Colajanni and Mario Almondo who grew up together in the Cavallino's ranks, climbing the various stages of the Racing Department.

And there are those who would not exclude from the game even Alfredo Altavilla, Sergio's right arm who left, slamming the door when he was preferred to Mike Manley at the FCA summit. A recovery, very, very difficult but for some not impossible ...

Piero Ferrari prefers to placate the waters: the budget of the Cavallino that will be presented will be a record and, eventually, there will be time to review the managerial structure. The important thing is that now the 670 single-seater proves to be able to fight for the world title with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc ...


https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/piero-ferrari-spiega-la-rivoluzione-abbiamo-dato-continuita-tecnica-alla-scuderia/4321790/&prev=search

 

Arrivabene linked with Sauber role according to some english and Italian articles.

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/140983/anderson-ferrari-was-wrong-to-pick-binotto

Ferrari made the "wrong decision" picking Mattia Binotto to replace Maurizio Arrivabene as its Formula 1 team principal, says former technical director Gary Anderson.

Binotto took charge of Ferrari's engine development after its dismal performance at the start of F1's V6 turbo-hybrid era in 2014.

He was then promoted to a role as overall technical chief in mid-2016 as part of an overhaul designed by then-president and CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Ferrari has since produced two cars capable of fighting for wins on a regular basis, although errors from the team and Sebastian Vettel last season meant its title bid unravelled for a second season in a row.

Speaking in a special 'live edition' of The Autosport Podcast on stage at Autosport International, former Jordan technical chief Anderson said: "Binotto is someone who has been very good at being a technical manager. You've got to allow him to be a technical manager.

"That is a full-time job, seven days a week. It's not a part-time thing.

"That is going to dilute their technical effort for sure.

"I think it's the wrong decision. They should have brought someone else in."

It is unclear who will replace Binotto as head of Ferrari's technical department, but there are suggestions the team may elect to simply hand more responsibility to aero chief Enrico Cardile and head of its engine department Corrado Iotti.

Mercedes has dominated F1 since the engine rules changed for 2014, a regulation overhaul that Ferrari managed badly.

It has taken Ferrari five years to consolidate its recovery from that mistake, although its best season statistically in a decade was still not enough to deny Mercedes another title double in 2018.

Anderson said: "I don't really see why you would take your best technical person... and put him in a management, political position which is not his forte.

"Why would you do that?"

Binotto has been credited with having a calming influence over the departments he has been responsible for at Maranello, while Arrivabene was accused of creating a culture of pointing fingers when things went wrong.

Anderson said that "you shouldn't have a blame culture, but somebody's responsible and you have to make sure you recognise why it failed and strengthen it" - and that it will not matter if Ferrari's team works better, if Binotto's move means the car is slower.

He added: "You can easily throw away a couple of tenths of a second in the car and then you're scratching to get up there, be competitive and make all the right decisions."

Anderson also warned that Ferrari could ultimately cost itself a prize technical asset with its policy of kicking underperforming team bosses out.

He said: "What happens at the end of 2019 if Red Bull steps between them and suddenly Ferrari are third or fourth in the championship?

"It could happen. [Then] his head's gonna roll.

"They might lose a very good asset because they put him in a position he shouldn't be in."

 

Gary Anderson has a point here.

 

Yes, he has a good point, but for some reason his predictions are always wrong, so we shouldn´t worry.

 

Gary Anderson always has an opinion on every single thing, but I’ve never found his insights all that correct nor interesting. He may have a point with Binotto, but then again, does t everyone working within a company strive to move upwards within the organisation from the ‘doing’ departments to the ‘managing/political’ departments? Binotto is no fool, he will make a good team principal because he knows what is required, and has the support of those under and above him. Let’s give him the opportunity to demonstrate what he can do, and if it doesn’t work, they can always change it back

 

Can they? Does it really work to put one a step back again after failing being promoted???
I would say the risk is rather loosing him in case it does not work out as he might be burnt then for the team....

 

Depends on him really. The guy is a long time Ferrari employee, a true member of the family, so should the job prove to be out of his comfort zone, then I’m sure they can put support around him to manage away the more challenging parts to him and allowing him to concentrate on those areas he excels at.

That said, as I said before, when you work for a company, you strive to get to the top, so I suspect Binotto will be enthused to meet the challenges that face him, and the guys that shuffle to take his place are also long standing Ferrari staff with every capability of continuing the evolution of his work

 

An interesting assessment of the environment Arrive had to deal with under Sergio - https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/21213

Some of my colleagues in the Formula 1 media have been less than kind about Maurizio Arrivabene, the departing head of Gestione Sportiva at Ferrari...

Arrivabene is a very shy man and was reserved as a result. But his friends, of whom I am not one, say that he is a much better leader than perhaps he appeared to be. I can understand that because you do not get to be as high up in a company such as Philip Morris without having some very special qualifications for the job. These are very clever people and should never be underestimated.

The way I see it, Arrivabene has been removed from his role before he can really make much of an impact. That may sound absurd given that he was appointed to his position in November 2014, However, it is a bit more complicated than that. Arrivabene had to tread very carefully because there were constant political battles going on and then he was under the orders of Sergio Marchionne, a man who allowed him no real room for manoeuvre.

It was not Arrivabene who imposed what amounted to a ban on talking to the media (which is why they were upset) but rather Marchionne. After Marchionne's death in July, that policy was reversed although by then Arrivabene, not surprisingly, was very wary of the press as there were constantly reports that were simply not true. People in Formula 1 assumed that Arrivabene was an idiot, which is simply not true.

Perhaps, for some, the problem was that his grasp of English was not very good and while he tried hard to articulate his beliefs, these thoughts rarely came across well.

One of the most important keys to success in Formula 1 is stability and Ferrari has once again upset the apple cart, in the hope that Mattia Binotto is the answer. Perhaps he is, but it is going to be a struggle whatever happens.

Ferrari has not won a World Championship since Kimi's lucky title in 2007. Since then the team has been runner up on four occasions and third on a further four occasions. In the same period it has won 26 races, but has been beaten first by Red Bull and most recently by Mercedes. Perhaps last year the team should have won the title but it was inconsistent and Sebastian Vettel was very disappointing, as he kept making mistake after mistake.

Arrivabene did the right thing and said that it was his fault that the team had not won. As team principal, his job is to protect the team and allow it to act without fear of whatever the media is reporting. If the truth be told, the World Championship was fundamentally lost by Sebastian Vettel's errors. Arrivabene might have said that, but he didn't. He wanted Vettel to feel less under pressure and then he would (in theory at least) make fewer mistakes. Yes, Ferrari also made mistakes but so too did Mercedes and the deciding factor, as far as I am concerned last year was that Vettel messed up.

Having said that, I am impressed by what Binotto has done on the technical side since he was put in charge in the middle of 2016 when James Allison departed, chased out of the team by Marchionne because he was unwilling to focus on the team 110 percent after the death of his wife and the need to spend more time with his children. From a human point of view, I feel for Allison, but Marchionne did not seem to care. I hear that Arrivabene was much more of a human being and that perhaps without Marchionne things would have been different. But Marchionne did not let humanity get in the way of getting the job done. If Allison could not give 100 percent then he should not be where he was. It was as simple as that. In the circumstances, Allison was probably better off out of it…

What Ferrari needs more than anything is an atmosphere in which people can work without fear of losing their jobs, where one can have an opinion about what is wrong without fear of being fired for saying the wrong thing. A blame culture is the biggest hindrance to success in F1. Ferrari has long suffered from this, with the team forever being focussed on what is written in the Italian media from one day to the next, rather than on getting the job done and taking the risks that one needs to take to make it to the very top in the sport.

Ferrari has now had four team principals in less than five years, which is perhaps something that the team owners need to think about in the future. In the same period, Mercedes has been run by the same person, Toto Wolff, who joined the team in January 2013. There is a lesson in that…

 

I couldn't agree more with Jo Saward.
For too long the Scuderia has been run like a Greek tragedy, and not a racing team.
They should create a positive atmosphere, instead of cultivating the perverse blame culture.
The gates of Maranello are like revolving doors, and everyone looks over his shoulder all the time.
Without continuity, there is no stability, and no progress can be made.
Without progress, Ferrari will stay stagnant and slowly regress to the bad old days.

 

Certainly the politics within Ferrari is difficult to handle - but that's part of the background, in the end only results matter. To me not winning is not necessarily a shame, since the competitors also work hard. But during the few last years, Ferrari has not been consistent and has made too many mistakes - and they have been painfully obvious. So I truly believe it's difficult to keep the same management when this happens.

 

I agree, and finishing second is proof that you are just one step away from success.

But very often they engage in a witch hunt in Maranello and sack prominent team members if they don't win.

It's very counter productive, because the team is off balance for a time, and you have to start all over again..

 

I agree with this premise.