Ferrari Shuffles The Deck Chairs

The deck chairs have been shuffled at Ferrari in a rapid reaction to the Italian team’s miserable start to the 2020 grand prix season.

Ferrari is looking to speed the design and development of parts for the SF1000 and concentrate on ongoing improvements in car performance.

The result is a new Performance Development department at Maranello which team boss Mattia Binotto says will be the cornerstone of the car development with the objective to “render it more effective and assure a more holistic emphasis on performance development.”

He says this will involve “a chain of command that is more focused and simplified and provides the heads of each department the necessary powers to achieve their objectives”.

The new Performance Development department is headed by Enrico Cardile but other departments remain unchanged with Enrico Gualtieri in charge of the Power Unit, Laurent Mekies as Sporting Director and in charge of trackside activities, while Simone Resta will continue to lead the Chassis Engineering department.

“A change of direction was needed to define clear lines of responsibility and working processes, while reaffirming the company’s faith in its technical talent pool. The department run by Enrico Cardile will be able to count on the experience of Rory Byrne and established engineers such as David Sanchez,” he says.

Binotto is not promising any rapid change in results, but says Ferrari needs to get back to the front of Formula One.

“We have said it several times, but it’s worth repeating. We have started to lay the foundations of a process which should lead to a new and enduring winning cycle.

“It will take some time and we will suffer setbacks like the one we are experiencing right now in terms of results and performance. However, we must react to these shortcomings with strength and determination to get back to being at the very top of this sport as soon as possible.

“This is what we all want and what our fans all over the world expect of us.”