Published on 13 Dec 2022 11:23 am (UK Time)
What is going on… over the past couple of days we have seen drama evolve over Team Principals and who would be where for the upcoming season. It became well known as the season ended that Ferrari team boss, Mattia Binotto, was on the chopping block and had been for a while, and it became apparent to the sport that he was most likely leaving.
Rumors started flooding in that various different people were going to replace him, however, the strongest candidate was the team leader of their sister team, Fred Vasseur.
Lo and behold, this morning he was appointed as Ferrari’s team leader and will start his new job on January 9th.
Jost Two Years??
However, before his appointment, on Monday evening Williams announced that Jost Capito would be leaving Williams after just 2 years of being with the team.
Capito spoke about his departure saying “It has been a huge privilege to lead Williams Racing for the last two seasons and to lay the foundations for the turnaround of this great team,”
“I look forward to watching the team as it continues on its path to future success.”
Williams has said that they will announce their replacement in the future but all is yet to be confirmed for the Williams team.
Andreas Heads Home!
Andreas Seidl, who has re-joined Alfa Romeo, has joined back as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Andreas previously worked at Alfa Romeo before joining McLaren in 2019, his decision most likely has been known for a long time seeing as McLaren announced his replacement as soon as he announced his departure from the team.
He has spoken out since rejoining Sauber saying: “It is great to join the Sauber Group from January: this is a team with a rich history in Formula 1 and an organisation I know really well from my time working and living in Hinwil for four years”
“I can’t wait to join the team and work with all the colleagues at the Sauber Group on the ambitious goals we have set together. I want to thank Finn Rausing and everyone at the Sauber Group for their choice: I am looking forward to repaying their trust with my work.”
This decision made will hurt McLaren a lot seeing as the progression they have made under Seidl has been crucial and a massive step in getting them toward the front of the grid despite their fallback last year.
Potentially McLaren’s replacement could maybe do a better job but we as fans aren’t sure how long this decision has been in the works, nor do we know the context behind this move and what potentially could’ve happened behind the scenes.
Andrea For Andreas?
Andrea Stella has been working at the McLaren team since 2015, he first started his work as Head of Race Operations, then was promoted to become a Performance Director, and now after Seidl’s departure, a Racing Director.
Stella has had his fair share of experience in Formula 1 seeing as he had previously worked at Ferrari for 15 years! He was a performance engineer for Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen, then eventually for Kimi and Alonso.
From his recent appointment as Team Principal he spoke out saying:
“I feel privileged to take on the Team Principal role as the next stage of being part of the McLaren F1 Team. I am grateful to Zak and the Shareholders for their trust in me and to all my colleagues and those who have supported me throughout my F1 career.
“We are realistic about the amount of work ahead of us to move back up the grid, but I am excited and encouraged that I am in this journey together with a team full of talent, experience, racing spirit, and dedication. I look forward to working closely with each of them, Lando and Oscar, to together achieving great success and enjoying the journey.”
A massive amount of change just in the space of a day! It goes to show that not only can a chain reaction be for drivers, but can also be for team leaders.
Williams in the coming days/weeks will announce their new team principal and who will take over from Jost and most likely that is when the changes stop, not many fans expected these changes to happen quickly or even at all!
I wonder how it will plan out for the teams that have made a change…
