With the departure of Mattia Binotto, who served as Ferrari’s F1 team representative, an unusual large shuffle was carried out in each F1 team system in 2023.
In F1, it’s common for one driver’s shock transfer to set off a domino effect, with several explosive moves in the driver market silly season.
Once once more this year, Sebastian Vettel’s decision to retire before F1’s summer break has been a series of dominoes with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri’s Nick de Vries and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. caused an effect.
Much rarer is this kind of crazy merry-go-round involving F1 team principals like this week.
As Othmar Szafnauer’s move from Aston Martin to Alpine last winter showed, moving top brasses is not uncommon in F1, but the fact that four teams will have new team bosses next season is pretty extreme.
Indeed, Ferrari’s decision to appoint Frédéric Vasseur as its new team principal sparked a shock move by McLaren to lose Andreas Seidl and promote Andrea Stella to replace him. It’s hard to remember a day this crazy.
This week’s changes at Ferrari, Alfa Romeo/Sauber, McLaren and Williams are all the result of slightly different circumstances, but there is one common theme that unites them. It’s more blame-shifting to team bosses than ever before in F1’s cost-cap era.
Until just a few years ago, one of the team principal’s key responsibilities was to go to the company’s board of directors and the parent automaker to try and raise the money needed to get the job done right.
And if you want to move up a position on the grid, turn around a potential decline, or deal with your car’s concept being wrong, the best way to sort things out is to get your team on the road to better performance. Was to ask them to write another check so I might spend the expenses.
But those days are long gone. With the budget cap in place, F1 is no longer a spending race where extra cash can cover mistakes.
Instead, it’s regarding being efficient, being disciplined, planning well, and most of all, being smart. With finite budgets equal to the top and bottom of the grid, there was no longer any excuse for rivals to have more budgets and thus be doing better.
In modern F1, team principals have more responsibility than ever for whether their on-track ambitions are met.
In the case of Joost Capito, Williams continued with him and his technician François-Xavier Demaison following his owner Dorilton Capital had not made the kind of progress they had hoped under F1’s new rules era. A decision was made not to.
Mattia Binotto’s resignation came following Ferrari chairman John Elkann and CEO Benedetto Viña lost faith in Maranello as they believed he had not reached his full potential in the 2022 season. rice field.
Ferrari’s choice of Frédéric Vasseur and Sauber F1 Team’s poaching of Andreas Seidl for a new CEO can be seen as a trend to choose senior management who understands what is most needed in this cost cap mindset.
Performance these days doesn’t come from doing front wing upgrades at every race. Because the budget to make it possible is limited. Instead, progress is focused on doing better in areas where benefits should come virtually free.
This requires knowing where to best focus staffing levels and appointments to get the most benefit from all members of the organization. You need to fully understand the rules and deductions so that your spending is 100% aimed at improving your vehicle’s performance and not wasted.
From designers coming up with car concepts on computer screens to pit crews changing wheels on Grand Prix Sunday, you need to get the best on every level. At every step, each individual has to cut their own weight, as the system will have no redundancy to cover its weaknesses.
As such, the team boss should also be a motivator and help propel the unit forward. They need to make sure their employees fully believe in what they are doing and the path they are taking.
Also, the timing of upgrades to find Goldilocks spots is important. You don’t want to go too crazy with upgrades early in the season, like you did with Ferrari this year, and then let it sit for a while later when you run out of money. Likewise, it runs the risk of being left behind in late-season development when it comes out too soon. you have to do things right.
All of these elements can be expected to be readily understood only by smart and experienced team principals who know the system.
It’s probably no coincidence that McLaren started recruiting under Andreas Seidle late last year.
Andreas Seidl said at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP: “That’s why we know we’re working in a cost cap environment, working with our finance department and finding synergies and efficiencies within the current F1 way of doing things. I’ve put a lot of effort into it,” he said.
“Thanks to that, almost two months ago, we made the rather significant decision to hire more engineers and have more headcount so that we can do things more in parallel in the future. I was able to start the campaign
This change in approach due to this cost cap, and the need for experienced, stable and smart reps has put team principals in the spotlight like never before.
The additional repercussions it brings bring additional responsibilities. This means extra glory when things go well, but it means you’re right in the firing line when things go wrong.
Alfa Romeo/Sauber F1 Team and Williams have not yet decided on team representatives. Jost Kapito is expected to join Audi’s Sauber team, leaving Williams with a vacancy if Mattia Binotto stays in F1.
Ferrari
Alfa Romeo/Sauber team CEO and team principal Frédéric Vasseur to replace Mattia Binotto
Alfa Romeo/Sauber F1 Team
Andreas Seidl, who was McLaren’s F1 team representative, was appointed as CEO to succeed Frederic Vasseur. A team representative will be appointed separately.
mclaren
Executive Race Director Andrea Stella promoted to replace Andreas Seidl
Williams
CEO and team principal Joost Capito and technical director François-Xavier Demaison leave the team. Successor undecided.
Team principal for each F1 team
Red Bull – Christian Horner (2005-)
Alpha Tauri – Franz Tost (2005-)
Mercedes – Toto Wolff (2013-)
Haas – Gunther Steiner (2014-)
Alpine – Otmar Szafnauer (2022-)
Aston Martin – Mike Clack (2022-)
Ferrari – Frédéric Vasseur (2023-)
McLaren – Andrea Stella (2023-)
Alfa Romeo – TBC
Williams – TBC
Category: F1 / Ferrari / mclaren / Sauber / Alfa Romeo F1
