Opinion
Formula One’s offseason proved to be quite an eventful one for team principals and management, as after the curtains fell on the racing in Abu Dhabi last November – the merry-go-round started turned in earnest.
Four teams will enter the 2023 season with new Team Principals following an intense reshuffling, all precipitating from the embattled Mattia Binotto’s departure from Ferrari – nine days after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Some would argue the writing was on the wall for the Italian, who’d been with the Scuderia since 1995 and had worked his way from an engine engineer to the top job, which came in 2019 and has since lasted three difficult seasons.
But fickle is the poisoned chalice that is the role of Ferrari team principal and the Chairman and CEO duo of John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna, couldn’t stand for a repeat of the comedy of errors; involving operational inconsistencies and unreliability that derailed a title fight in 2022.
Sack the boss and try again, has been Ferrari’s modus operandi since Stefano Domenicali stood down from his role in 2014 – who was the last principal to have won the constructor’s championship for the famed Italian outfit in 2008.
Perennial judgement on Ferrari management aside, the highly rated Frederic Vasseur – as rumoured – was called up from his position at Alfa Romeo. A solid operator, with a no-nonsense attitude – credited too with the turnaround in the Sauber team’s upturn in fortunes.
Already the Frenchman has talked of being thankful to his predecessor for a handover, as well as conversing with perhaps the most successful Ferrari team boss in Jean Todt – before making noises about number one drivers and the strategy department.
Vasseur’s move forced Alfa Romeo to initiate its plan to recruit McLaren’s Andrea Seidl, but as CEO of the Sauber group rather than just Team Principal.
That position has been left unfilled, though Managing Director Alessandro Alunni Bravi has been appointed Team Representative reporting to Seidl and working with stalwart Sporting Director Beat Zehnder and Technical chief Jan Monchaux.
This was a big win for the Sauber group in the long-term, with their sights firmly set on the Audi acquisition ahead of the 2026 season.
Hiring arguably one of the best team bosses on the grid in Seidl to oversee the entire operation – was one the best coups across the grid in this offseason.
Does that mean McLaren will hurt? Of course, the loss of the architect of their revival since 2019, as well as implementer of new procedures and getting a state-of-the-art windtunnel investment being signed off by the board – will have some impact at Woking. Though where Seidl’s ultimate success will lie, will be the legacy he leaves behind.
This is evident in the promotion of Andrea Stella, from Racing Director to Team Principal and a sign of CEO Zak Brown’s faith in the plan Seidl put in place for McLaren’s return to winning ways and the need to stay the course.
Stella, famed as Fernando Alonso’s race engineer at Ferrari, followed the two-time world champion to McLaren in 2015, from there he’s embedded himself into being a key figure in Brown’s vision of reviving McLaren.
Similarly pleasing, was the empowered bestowed upon long-time Mercedes chief strategist in James Vowles, who was a shock announcement as the new Williams Team Principal – following CEO Jost Capito and Technical Director Francois-Xavier Demaison’s departure after finishing last in the constructor’s standings in 2022.
To some, Vowles leaving the nest of eight-time constructor’s champions Mercedes may reek of the same air that former technical boss Paddy Lowe left – though this will be different.
Williams are in need of an overhaul of their team culture and someone who’s spent almost a decade under one of the best bosses on the grid in Toto Wolff, would be more than qualified to bring fresh eyes to an organisation staved of success.
Ultimately, everyone’s a winner from this merry-go-round depending on perspective.
Though neither move comes without the pressure on those in charge and facing scrutiny, not only from their internal stakeholders but also the media. Some will feel that more than others, however Formula One is fickle and all measured on results.
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