Poor recruitment and James Allison’s departure were key mistakes that caused the current situation at Ferrari, ex-chairman Luca di Montezemolo believes.
This season has seen the Scuderia flounder in the midfield after an FIA investigation into their engine caused a big drop in performance and the SF1000 chassis has also underwhelmed.
The link to Allison, who spent two stints at Maranello between 2000-2005 and 2013-2016, can’t be dismissed, as it was him who laid the groundwork for the Mercedes-challenging Ferrari car of 2017, only to then join the German manufacturer himself that year as technical director.
And Di Montezemolo highlighted the Briton’s exit following the death of his wife as a key moment that the Scuderia hasn’t recovered from.
“It was a big mistake to let James Allison go,” he told German TV channel RTL.
“I name him, but I could name others as well and then they made the mistake of transferring very good technicians from road car production to Formula 1 but completely different skills are required there.
Also Read:
- Allison places Wolff ‘head and shoulders’ clear of other F1 team bosses
- Ferrari ‘in the midst of a storm’ as Binotto ignores Wolff criticism
- Ex-Mercedes engine boss Cowell turned down Ferrari interest – report
“Enzo [Ferrari] always told me that if there is, I am exaggerating now, the best driver in Guatemala, get him.
“The same applies to the technicians. We have to hire the best people to improve performance and these technicians must help the young talents among them to grow.”
Ferrari has also struggled to find stability at the top, with three team bosses in the past six years, and the Italian was critical of those choices too.
“The problems came after 2014, unfortunately,” Di Montezemolo, who just so happened to leave Ferrari that year continued.
“The people who managed Ferrari then had neither experience in Formula 1 nor competence for Formula 1, and they thought that you could win quickly in Formula 1 just like that.”
Currently leading the Italian team is Mattia Binotto, who replaced Maurizio Arrivabene at the start of 2019, and the veteran Swiss engineer is under fire for the problems Ferrari face.
“The entire team is responsible, myself as team principal first,” he said in Belgium.
“Am I the right man or not [for the job], [it is] not myself to answer.
“How long it will take [to recover]? I think that if you look back at all the winning cycles it is always many years.
“There are no silver bullets in F1. Patience and stability is required.”
