The last couple of days have entirely changed the outlook on the role of a team principal, there have been more team principal changes than there have been driver moves which says a lot about the chaos that has been started from Ferrari but to think that some of the moves that have happened may make or break the team that has been mentioned.
So what have been the changes?
So it all began when Ferrari accepted the resignation of Mattia Binotto following the team's 2nd place in both championships. His linked replacement was the Alfa Romeo team principal Fred Vasseur, who has a good relationship with Charles Leclerc so it would be safe to say that there will be a precise number 1 on the team. It was weird how it all came about, it was a massive jump from the 2021 season but I guess after the start they had winning 2 of the first 3 races, and finishing 2nd wasn’t the result that they would have desired.
Next, Williams team principal Jost Capito stepped down from his role after the expiration of his Williams contract. Rumours have it that he wanted a longer team success for the team while Dorilton Capital want a shorter-term success. Capito’s replacement hasn’t drawn any names yet, but whoever Dorilton Capital gets to replace Capito will need to have experience managing a team that really is a sleeping giant. The team needs something special for next year after falling back to last place in the 2022 constructors championship after previously finishing 8th in the 2021 championship.
Then today, the Rumours of Vasseur becoming the new Ferrari team principal turned out to be true. Vasseur is a very enthusiastic character based on his press conferences which makes it a weird move from Ferrari it is seen to be a serious environment where you have to work hard and keep silent but maybe Vassuer’s personality will make it more of a fun environment to work in. This will be the biggest test of Vasseur's reign as a team principal and has to hit the ground running given the car that the Scuderia designed.
Then it was McLaren that decided to carry on the team principal chaos, with Andreas Seidl announcing his departure from the Woking-based team to join the Sauber Group as CEO and will oversee the team transition into Audi. He will also work on the appointment of a suitable team principal following Vasseur’s move to Ferrari.
Who are the winners of the movers?
Fred Vasseur:
Instantly Fred Vasseur is a big winner with his move from Alfa Romeo to Ferrari, Vasseur might just be the perfect candidate to bring success back to Italy given he has already experience being a team principal. It’s something that his previous predecessors haven’t had and they didn’t last long in the role so maybe Ferrari has realised that the hire and fire policy isn’t working with people who have had no previous experience in the role of team principal.
Andrea Stella
With Andreas Seidl departing the team to join Sauber, appointing Andrea Stella is a smart move from McLaren given the numerous roles that the Italian has been involved with at multiple teams. He was the performance engineer for the great Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen before moving into the race engineer position for Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso when the pair of them were at Ferrari. He then moved to McLaren as head of race operations before moving to performance director and then into executive director. So with McLaren hiring from within, Stella was a good choice by the team.
Who are the losers of the movers?
Williams:
After the departure of Jost Capito and no name being mentioned as a replacement, it could come to bite the British outfit in the rear. It seems that Capito’s departure has left many questions but for me, the main question should be what direction is Williams planning on going on. Looking on the outside, there was no real reason for Capito to leave other than potentially having a fallout with Dorilton Capital. What Capito did with Williams you could consider a decent job, he took up the role in December 2020 and had a good first year which saw a podium finish in Belgium and a couple of other points finishes. Could he be the one that takes over at Alfa Romeo? I doubt it but you just never know with F1.
Mattia Binotto:
As soon as rumours come out in the media that your job is under threat it’s never a good look and given that Mattia Binotto walked instead of being fired may have just saved him in terms of getting another job in the sport just the question remains of where. Williams needs a team principal but would the head of the Ferrari race team for the past 4 years go from the 2nd fastest team in 2022 to the slowest or could a project at Alfa Romeo entice the Swiss-born Italian, it all remains to be seen I wouldn’t count him out for either team. The one thing that does help Binotto’s case is that he has knowledge of the 2023 Ferrari development and more importantly knowledge of the Ferrari engine, given he is a good asset for the engine department of any team but a senior figure role just doesn’t suit Binotto as for me he lacks that cutting edge.
McLaren:
Losing a key figure to a potential rival is never good, but when it is your team principal, it could lead to significant unrest in the team. The fact that this happened to McLaren shows that something wasn't going in the way Zak Brown would have wanted and Andreas Seidl felt the need to step down into a new role at another team. Now the question is that with Seidl going to Alfa Romeo, ultimately turning into Audi for 2026, could they become a rival with McLaren especially when you think of the knowledge Seidl would take to Alfa Romeo which makes the option of not putting Seidl on gardening leave the more questionable. If you look at every senior figure movement, the team that they leave usually sends them on a 6-month gardening leave but this is different and it could be something that bites McLaren especially if Alfa Romeo does turn into rivals for P4/P5 in the constructor's championship.
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