Horner rumoured to replace Vasseur

Agree with most your post but not that. All they did was listen to Lewis and the car didn't go anywhere. Car too bouncy, seat too far forward, this that bla bla bla. The problem Lewis has is adaptability to ground effect cars and it's been obvious since 2022. He focused on relatively pointless but also hard to change areas of the car. He's gone from Mercedes now and has been out the Merc loop since before the start of 2024 season and look how much closer Merc is to the front now.

Having said that Lewis should certainly be able to point out how Mercedes was doing things differently than Ferrari, especially operations side which is where Ferrari continuous to struggle. That said it surely doesn't take a genius to work it out. Too much politics at play and idiots in charge of strategy. Jean Todt was a total genius how he managed that for as long as he did.

Pointing out and having the right people listen are 2 very different things, however. Ferrari is an emotional team and people listen to those that are winning right now.

 

As predicted ...

 

The last thing Ferrari needs is to listen to Lewis. In fact, the last thing Ferrari needs was signing Lewis. There's just constant whining about everything. There's absolutely nothing that says Lewis 'helps develop cars'.

None. The team at Mercedes was completely legendary, and developed a winning machine for Lewis. Not the other way round. The car was so damn good that George who could not even fit into the car almost won in his first race with it. Let that sink in.

Lewis always wants to quit and retire the car whenever things don't go his way. Most overrated and luckiest driver out there.

Ferrari, at the moment needs to get their **** together from the top. Leave the F1 team alone, get top engineers to and proper strategists to design, and run the team. Modern F1 isn't how it used to be. Now they are managing and hardly any racing goes on. They unfortunately missed out on Adrian. The last thing the team needs now is the media poking around and pouring fuel in the fire and destabilizing the team.

Sadly, i'm not sure if we will even see Ferrari win anything the next 10 years or so. They are just focused on selling fast ugly cars now, coupled with hats, shoes and t shirts.

 

100%.

 

what a positive prognosis... so much to look forward to.

I do agree about the media and press, but that is part of Ferrari and has been since about 1957 ish.... anyone has to know that going in. As a professional they need to tune that out... I think the drivers can to a degree, but the engineers etc.. cant. When all you hear is your job is on the line every day... its hard to give your best... that is just human nature.

 

When some culling occurs at Ferrari, it probably affects mostly heads of departments, and middle management.
I expect that jobs on the shopfloor are not so much at risk, since the decisions come from the top.

 

I should have been more clear, I mean the mangers etc... not the mechanics... but it also takes a toll on them as well. constant change is not good. Morale is real, and cloudy un clear direction is horrible for any organization.

 

WHAT IF Ferrari F1 opened up a facility in the U.K.? Well that change the dynamics of Ferrari F1 being that they would be in the "Silicon Valley" of F1?

 

Ferrari would lose its Italian identity if it was to move its Scuderia to the UK.

 

I don’t see how it would work. It didn’t work before. If management is the issue, long distance management doesn’t help.

 

Maybe Vasseur gave it away when he said," We've changed almost everything, except one thing!"

It's possible that one thing could be moving the Scuderia to the U.K. Yes, they've tried it before with Barnard but that was in an analog era. It's digital now. Besides, the Scuderia are literally the only ones "out-of-the-loop" with regards to F1 teams in the U.K. Sauber WAS in Switzerland but is now taken over by Audi whom have opened a facility in the U.K. RedBulls aka Toro Rosso share information with RedBull.

All the BEST talent in the U.K. gets recycled amongst the teams in the U.K.

That's my 2 cents......

 

My turn to give my 2 cents. Lol

Ferrari is the only team supported by a whole country; it's Italy's pride.
It has so many followers because it is unique, with historical continuity since 1929 when the Scuderia was created in Modena as Alfa Romeo racing arm, and since 1940 as a constructor (Auto Avio, and Ferrari later) in its own right.
Italian to the core, it belongs to Emilia-Romagnia, the cradle where so many famous car and motorcycle ventures started.
Ferrari isn't like Mercedes or Renault, transplanting part of the racing department to Britain would severely affect the authenticity of the brand, and damage its image in the eyes of its admirers, I suspect.

 

What on earth is Italy proud about. Even with the EU they are still the poor man of Europe. They were at the top of F1 only because Ferrari was never really challanged by a major manufacture who would committ the same money that Ferrari did. But as Fiat collapsed, so did Ferrari. Now the only thing Ferrari knows how to make is excuses. Their "upgrades" are the automotive equivilent of suicide. The grunts who have all the dirt and grease on their hands now have to endure the public humiliation that the top brass have created with their stupidity. No top level F1 team principle would consider moving to Ferrari at any price. Vasseur is cut from the same cloth of mediocrity that Binotto was. Just another cheap fix that isn't working. I think was will be seeing a three way race for both driver and constructor championships...and I wouldn't be surprised to see Mercedes fighting for the top two spots in both.

 

That's a bit of a harsh comment. I am not qualified to speak on behalf of Italians, but I think they have a lot to be proud about. They have a very strong culture, lots of traditions, a unique history; Italy was the craddle of Western civilisation ! The country has a huge artistic heritage; architecture, sculpture, painting, music, literarure, film industry and monuments are present everywhere. Maybe people in the New World don't appreciate that ?

The economy of Italy must be the 3rd in the European Union which is 27 countries. Italy isn't the poorest by a long shot ! It has a strong tourism industry, a good manufacturing sector, shipyards, and food production. Italy exports worldwide, it is a leader in fashion, has one of the biggest container shipping fleet, a thriving cruise business, produces the most amazing cars and motorcycles, etc...

 

Italians have a lot to be proud of, and Ferrari - historically - have been one of the things. Truth nowadays is that the F1 team is nothing to be proud of, it's an absolute disgrace how much of a clown show it is. They can't even communicate properly with the driver they're paying €100m or however much it is, to drive for them.

Opening a center of excellence in the UK to attract international talent might hurt the Italian pride, but it seems like the only way to push beyond these disastrous almost two decades. One of the reasons Ferrari couldn't get Newey, supposedly, was that he didn't want to relocate to Italy. I'd imagine the same goes for a lot of the international talent pool as well. Refusing to branch out then leaves them with the talent pool of what... The top 5 students from Politecnico di Milano and Motorvehicle University of Emilia-Romagna?

Continuing like this, we'll have another two decades of clownery.

 

I agree with that. Foreign engineers, designers and technicians have been working for Ferrari at Maranello in the past and some still now. I don't think relocating in Italy is a bad proposition to enhance one's career, even if it doesn't attract everyone. So maybe Ferrari should try to attract new talents and prospect among new university graduates in other countries like most multi-national companies do. They may even tentatively do it already.

The main bugbear for those contemplating that move is the style of management at Ferrari putting many people off. There is the blame mentality, the exagerated expectation to see immediate result, and the way collaborators are harshly treated after a while if the results are not fortcoming: the constant Damocles Sword hanging over your head ! The pressure of the Italian media doesn't help, and the Ferrari management has too often listen to outside criticism. It was already the case in Enzo's times.

 

I should have been more specific in terms of what does Italy have to be proud of "today." But that gets into P&R...so let's focus on F1...on Ferrari F1. They seem to be following in the footsteps of Alfa Romeo F1. I am certain even Haas would be happy to dump Ferrari as a supplier...but that would basically make F1 a Mercedes Spec racing series. Audi, Honda, Ford, and Cadillac will all put in an appearance, but that will last about as long as a celebrity doing a grid walk to promote their new movie. F1 is no longer controled by men who love the sport, but rather by corporations who see it only as a marketing tool.

 

Yeah, maybe in a couple of years Cadillac will show Ferrari how it's done ?

But wait ... apparently they will be using their engines !!! Lol

 

As I noticed when I had a great chat with him at Chantilly outside Paris in September Martin Brundle is the contrary of the clueless couch potato peanut gallery, very smart and insightful, informed, with intimate knowledge of F1 from the inside for 40 years and has full access: here are his thoughts which sweep this completely nonsensical thread where it belongs, the garbage bin.

https://f1i.com/news/542019-brundle-backs-vasseur-it-would-be-nuts-to-change-fred.html

 

+1 Thank you for the link. My chats with him and Damon in the paddock, always insightful and pleasant. They know this business. I had a superb 30+min chat with Joe Saward in Austria a few years back. Sharp and insightful as well. When one talks about F1 with the people who are utterly experienced you leave with a much better understanding of this sport and its characteristics.

 

The counterpoint is that, no matter how wise Brundle could be, he's not Ferrari's top management - and we can only hope for sensible decisions from this top management, they are not a given.

 

Yes I wish Elkann would go play polo in the Bahamas and whatever the CEO's name is - Vigna?- would go run a kitchen appliance company so we could have the right people...

 

The great pity is that the management at Ferrari is totally alien to motor racing.
President John Elkann is a financier, and CEO Benedetto Vigna is a physicist; both probably very talented in their field, but not "car guys".