At the Italian Grand Prix last weekend it wasn’t a surprise to see all the top guys of Ferrari at Monza.
Piero Ferrari was flanked at all times by Fiat Chrysler CEO [Ferrari’s parent company] and Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne who has been at the front of somewhat of a revolution at Ferrari.
After going through the entire 2014 Formula One World Championship season without a win, the Italian outfit shock up the side.
On the track, Fernando Alonso departed for McLaren Honda, whilst Sebastian Vettel joined from Red Bull Racing.
In the pits Maurizio Arrivabene became the teams third team principal in eight months, James Allison became technical director, Mattia Binotto became engine director and at the very top of the food chain Luca di Montezemolo stood down and in came Sergio Marchionne.
Marchionne declared two positives. The first was that Ferrari had not abandoned work on the 2015 car and would continue to push for the remainder of the season.
The second was that Ferrari have high hopes for their new car in 2016.
‘[2016] is a completely different environment, we’ve been working on the ’16 power unit and the car for a while. The difference between this season and other seasons is that we never abandoned ’15, ’15 had remained front and centre in our development work. That’s why we’re here today and on the front row,’ Marchionne told Sky Sports in Monza.
‘In ’16 all bets are off. We’re entering the season with a completely re-designed engine and car; and I feel relatively comfortable that Ferrari will be back and a true competitor, as opposed to being a catch-up artist.’
‘I’m delighted with the work that Maurizio [Arrivabene] has done. Him, James Allison, the guys that have worked on the engine, they’re a bunch of people that have really worked their tail off over the last 12 months to remedy what I consider to be some real technical shortfalls,’
Big hopes for Ferrari in 2016
