The need for change at Ferrari has been manifest in the latter part of 2014. ANTHONY ROWLINSON attended the Italian's squad annual Christmas media briefing to hear about the new bosses' plans to make the team a winner again
The cold cut of a Modenese winter morning snaps the senses at the gates of Ferrari's Fiorano circuit. December in Maranello is always cold, often snowy, though this year the clouds and fog of the previous night have cleared, to leave behind a fierce-crisp day.
The frisson is in sharp contrast to the warmth of the welcome awaiting Formula 1 media inside the Fiorano 'pit garage', converted for the day into a press conference hall. Here's Piero Lardi Ferrari, sharp-suited in pin-stripes, somewhat surreally greeting the assembled throng with avuncular bonhomie. He looks so much like his dad it's impossible not to double-take.
There's new team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, known to many from his former role as a senior marketing exec for Ferrari's tobacco sponsor Philip Morris. Dressed in bright orange cashmere he seems comfortable on familiar ground, if a little apprehensive at the prospect of facing a barrage of questions from 100-or-so hacks, in this first public engagement of his new role.
And everywhere is Enzo: in a giant black-and-white portrait, hanging from a far garage wall, overseeing proceedings with that austere gaze, his presence unspoken though constantly acknowledged by the simple fact of the occasion taking place.
This venue of legends, approached on the Via Gilles Villeneuve, could hardly be a more appropriate location to introduce the Scuderia's new senior management team to the world's press. It reeks 'Ferrari'.
The raft of changes has meant Pat Fry has left © LAT |
Through the decades since Fiorano was built in 1972, every Ferrari general has grown intimately acquainted with this ribbon of privately owned asphalt. Most recently Sebastian Vettel had his first taste of life in scarlet during a day here spent testing an ex-Fernando Alonso F2012.
Today it's the turn of chairman-since-September Sergio Marchionne and Arrivabene to take their place in the hall of fame, outlining to the assembled press - mostly Italian, with a smattering of Germans, a handful of Brits (AUTOSPORT is the only UK specialist media) - a vision of the future for their lustrous, though lately tarnished, F1 jewel.
"Teamwork" is emphasised, as is the importance of "working together" and "self-belief".
The shift in tone from a similar gathering one year ago is marked. In December 2013, ex-chairman Luca di Montezemolo held court to a table of 20 non-Italian media over lunch, before hosting a similar function, over dinner, for his compatriots.
His mood that day was quiet, personal, largely serious, though shot through with sharp stabs of humour and those assembled were left in no doubt as to who was in charge, whose train set this was, despite the presence of then F1 team principal Stefano Domenicali.
Except that it wasn't really Luca's train set, after all, as he and we were to find out in the aftermath of a disastrous 2014 Italian Grand Prix.
On the Tuesday post-race weekend, Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and therefore di Montezemolo's boss, made it clear that the F1 team's performance had slipped to an unacceptably poor level and that Ferrari's inability to win was damaging its value as a global brand: i.e. losing wasn't helping Ferrari shift road cars.
His comments bore only one interpretation: Montezemolo was about to be 'exited' and that duly came to pass a day later. Luca's September 10 departure ended a 23-year run at Ferrari's highest levels.
What was not anticipated was the raft of senior changes that followed. Marco Mattiacci, who now has to be viewed as no more than a caretaker manager, lasted only eight months as team boss before his replacement by Arrivabene, 57; Alonso, of course, gone; Pat Fry gone, Nikolas Tombazis gone, Hirohide Hamashima gone too, with others less prominent also departed. As Marchionne noted with likely unintended comedy during his press Q&A: "This is a huge experiment within our 'continuity concept.'"
Yet the mood, and need, for change is manifest. Ferrari's 2014 was its worst F1 season since 1993, netting only two podium finishes and a distant fourth in the constructors' championship.
A dismal 2014 has prompted an overhaul © LAT |
Something had to give and while the Maranello Christmas message was one of 'we're working with what we've got', further notable signings shouldn't be ruled out. Adrian Newey and Mercedes' engine-meister Andrew Cowell would already be working in red had negotiations last year concluded differently...
Arrivabene, whose name translates loosely as 'welcome' is immediately a more approachable figure than was Mattiacci and it seems likely, given his marketing background, that he'll be a media-savvy operator.
If nothing else this will buy him goodwill and time with the notoriously rapacious Italian media corps. And sagely, it seems he'll park all technical matters at the door of James Allison, now unequivocally in charge of Ferrari's F1 'car' operations.
It's surely no coincidence that the Scuderia appears to have adopted a structure similar to that employed by the two most recently successful F1 squads, Mercedes and Red Bull Racing: ie a front man and 'politics guy' to handle the ever-murkier machinations of the F1 paddock (see also, Toto Wolff, Christian Horner), twinned with a 'nuts and bolts guy' to make the car go faster (see also Paddy Lowe, Newey).
Initial impressions are of a collegiate, unstuffy and sharp-witted individual, aware of the magnitude of the task ahead of him, though not overawed by it.
Those who know Arrivabene speak of an intelligent operator who's "hard as nails" in his business dealings, according to one observer. "He's not a man who tolerates mistakes," said AUTOSPORT's source.
Also in his favour is a reportedly close relationship with Bernie Ecclestone, developed in his role as sponsors' representative on the Formula One Commission. This allegiance is likely to prove all the more valuable given Ecclestone's recent re-appointment as CEO of Formula One Management.
Arrivabene's "thorough understanding not just of Ferrari but also of the governance mechanisms and requirements of the sport," was, according to Marchionne, a decisive factor in his appointment.
So in Ferrari's moment of self-proclaimed change, an understanding of the old F1 way of getting things done clearly remains a vital asset.
As for 62-year-old Marchionne, a car industry guy to the core, his reputation as a cost-cutting fixer of basket-cases - firstly Fiat group, more recently Chrysler - precedes him. A watching world waits to see what he can achieve with Italy's most emblematic sporting dynasty.
The need for change at Ferrari has been manifest in the latter part of 2014. ANTHONY ROWLINSON attended the Italian's squad annual Christmas media briefing to hear about the new bosses' plans to make the team a winner again
The cold cut of a Modenese winter morning snaps the senses at the gates of Ferrari's Fiorano circuit. December in Maranello is always cold, often snowy, though this year the clouds and fog of the previous night have cleared, to leave behind a fierce-crisp day.
The frisson is in sharp contrast to the warmth of the welcome awaiting Formula 1 media inside the Fiorano 'pit garage', converted for the day into a press conference hall. Here's Piero Lardi Ferrari, sharp-suited in pin-stripes, somewhat surreally greeting the assembled throng with avuncular bonhomie. He looks so much like his dad it's impossible not to double-take.
There's new team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, known to many from his former role as a senior marketing exec for Ferrari's tobacco sponsor Philip Morris. Dressed in bright orange cashmere he seems comfortable on familiar ground, if a little apprehensive at the prospect of facing a barrage of questions from 100-or-so hacks, in this first public engagement of his new role.
And everywhere is Enzo: in a giant black-and-white portrait, hanging from a far garage wall, overseeing proceedings with that austere gaze, his presence unspoken though constantly acknowledged by the simple fact of the occasion taking place.
This venue of legends, approached on the Via Gilles Villeneuve, could hardly be a more appropriate location to introduce the Scuderia's new senior management team to the world's press. It reeks 'Ferrari'.
The raft of changes has meant Pat Fry has left © LAT |
Through the decades since Fiorano was built in 1972, every Ferrari general has grown intimately acquainted with this ribbon of privately owned asphalt. Most recently Sebastian Vettel had his first taste of life in scarlet during a day here spent testing an ex-Fernando Alonso F2012.
Today it's the turn of chairman-since-September Sergio Marchionne and Arrivabene to take their place in the hall of fame, outlining to the assembled press - mostly Italian, with a smattering of Germans, a handful of Brits (AUTOSPORT is the only UK specialist media) - a vision of the future for their lustrous, though lately tarnished, F1 jewel.
"Teamwork" is emphasised, as is the importance of "working together" and "self-belief".
The shift in tone from a similar gathering one year ago is marked. In December 2013, ex-chairman Luca di Montezemolo held court to a table of 20 non-Italian media over lunch, before hosting a similar function, over dinner, for his compatriots.
His mood that day was quiet, personal, largely serious, though shot through with sharp stabs of humour and those assembled were left in no doubt as to who was in charge, whose train set this was, despite the presence of then F1 team principal Stefano Domenicali.
Except that it wasn't really Luca's train set, after all, as he and we were to find out in the aftermath of a disastrous 2014 Italian Grand Prix.
On the Tuesday post-race weekend, Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and therefore di Montezemolo's boss, made it clear that the F1 team's performance had slipped to an unacceptably poor level and that Ferrari's inability to win was damaging its value as a global brand: i.e. losing wasn't helping Ferrari shift road cars.
His comments bore only one interpretation: Montezemolo was about to be 'exited' and that duly came to pass a day later. Luca's September 10 departure ended a 23-year run at Ferrari's highest levels.
What was not anticipated was the raft of senior changes that followed. Marco Mattiacci, who now has to be viewed as no more than a caretaker manager, lasted only eight months as team boss before his replacement by Arrivabene, 57; Alonso, of course, gone; Pat Fry gone, Nikolas Tombazis gone, Hirohide Hamashima gone too, with others less prominent also departed. As Marchionne noted with likely unintended comedy during his press Q&A: "This is a huge experiment within our 'continuity concept.'"
Yet the mood, and need, for change is manifest. Ferrari's 2014 was its worst F1 season since 1993, netting only two podium finishes and a distant fourth in the constructors' championship.
A dismal 2014 has prompted an overhaul © LAT |
Something had to give and while the Maranello Christmas message was one of 'we're working with what we've got', further notable signings shouldn't be ruled out. Adrian Newey and Mercedes' engine-meister Andrew Cowell would already be working in red had negotiations last year concluded differently...
Arrivabene, whose name translates loosely as 'welcome' is immediately a more approachable figure than was Mattiacci and it seems likely, given his marketing background, that he'll be a media-savvy operator.
If nothing else this will buy him goodwill and time with the notoriously rapacious Italian media corps. And sagely, it seems he'll park all technical matters at the door of James Allison, now unequivocally in charge of Ferrari's F1 'car' operations.
It's surely no coincidence that the Scuderia appears to have adopted a structure similar to that employed by the two most recently successful F1 squads, Mercedes and Red Bull Racing: ie a front man and 'politics guy' to handle the ever-murkier machinations of the F1 paddock (see also, Toto Wolff, Christian Horner), twinned with a 'nuts and bolts guy' to make the car go faster (see also Paddy Lowe, Newey).
Initial impressions are of a collegiate, unstuffy and sharp-witted individual, aware of the magnitude of the task ahead of him, though not overawed by it.
Those who know Arrivabene speak of an intelligent operator who's "hard as nails" in his business dealings, according to one observer. "He's not a man who tolerates mistakes," said AUTOSPORT's source.
Also in his favour is a reportedly close relationship with Bernie Ecclestone, developed in his role as sponsors' representative on the Formula One Commission. This allegiance is likely to prove all the more valuable given Ecclestone's recent re-appointment as CEO of Formula One Management.
Arrivabene's "thorough understanding not just of Ferrari but also of the governance mechanisms and requirements of the sport," was, according to Marchionne, a decisive factor in his appointment.
So in Ferrari's moment of self-proclaimed change, an understanding of the old F1 way of getting things done clearly remains a vital asset.
As for 62-year-old Marchionne, a car industry guy to the core, his reputation as a cost-cutting fixer of basket-cases - firstly Fiat group, more recently Chrysler - precedes him. A watching world waits to see what he can achieve with Italy's most emblematic sporting dynasty.
