Aldo Costa steps down as Ferrari technical director

[Jimi_Hendrix_1967]

Not a knee jerk reaction, but one that was long overdue. And hopefully not the only change.
I never liked Domenicali's cold and slow reaction to current events. The team needs a passionate leader with clear vision that bangs his fist on the table every now and then. They also failed to lure Newey away last year and instead saw him renew his rerbull contract. Then tgere was the abudahbi fiasco where all Ferrari had to do, is follow the leading cars strategy.

Rumour goes a new designer is poached from neweys staff. Hope thatl work. I also hope ldm will force fia to stop the rra and let teams decide themselves how much to invest.

Whatever the outcome, Ferrari is in deep trouble. No design team for 2012 and the current car very problematic and way behind red bull.

[beelsebob]

Where are the moderators when we need them? Clearly sacking the technical director cannot be called a crisis. Nothing is wrong at Ferrrari and they are surely going to win the 2011 WCC and WDC, or so I was told when I pointed to the problem months ago.

I'm not sure anyone is calling the sacking of the technical director a crisis.

I think they're calling a dog of a car that gets lapped by the leaders, no sign of progress, and a technical director a crisis

[ESPImperium]

If (when) Aldo Costa was (is) given the boot id recon that he could either go to one of about 3 or 4 teams with a couple of diffrent posistional options in those teams;

First option would be to take a step down to Head of Chassis/Veichle Development. This would mean that he would basically oversee the chassis and development side of things and direct the TDs wishes. I could see this being done at 2 teams for him, Sauber or Williams, a good adition to those teams in that role id feel.

Second option would see him take over as TD at a team that has a vacant TD post, id recon that a team such as Renault or Toro Rosso would be a great base for him, and a great adition to those teams, maybes not so much Renault, but with their resources he would be one hell of a force there. STR would be a diffrent deal, id recon that he would work within diffrent peramaters, but make them tick, bring them into the fight more.

However, there could be 2 more options, Virgin and Force India. Limited resources yes, but a plase for him to restore his stock and value in F1.

As for a replacement, I think i can see Pat Fry becoming the main force at Ferarri, with a strong engineering team, i think he can take them into where Luca, Stefano and Fernando want to be. But im not sure, as this Ferrari restructure was on the cards due to the RRA and how much Ferrari has to scale back. This rumored 40-45% cutback in man-power for 2012 i think is just being accelerated as the 2011 car is poor to what is leading the WDC and Constructors title at present. Alonso is bleading the car dry and it still isnt ehough.

I just think this is them cutting their losses and going for 2012 now. As many of the 2012 cars have already started to make their way onto designers boards/screens and into some CAD and CFD programmes. As if Ferrari can do a "Brawn GP" and give their car a 8 month lead time, and only update the current car (fully) once more with a couple of smaller updates later on to finish P3 in the Constructors title, id recon that they could see their car up front in 2012. Thats if they do beat Mercedes as they are looking strong now as both drivers are starting to show strong and consistant form for the Brackley based team.

Im jusn not sure how the "spagetthi" culture is working in modren F1 for them, without the "dream team" incharge i think they are being shown to be wanting in many respects since 2007/2008.

[DaveKillens]

Im jusn not sure how the "spagetthi" culture is working in modren F1 for them, without the "dream team" incharge i think they are being shown to be wanting in many respects since 2007/2008.

I agree, but I find some reasons valid, some not. The dream team that was integral to Schumacher's run of domination was as good as they get. Their strategy and execution was almost always immaculate, let's face it, they set the benchmark.

So when comparisons are made, it's almost cruel because they are being judged against a standard that no one else could meet. And mistakes are magnified, because when some mishap occurs, whether it was leaving the pits while still attached to the refuelling hose, or adopting a non-winning strategy of following the wrong driver, the first thing that springs to mind is "the team of just a few years ago never made that kind of mistake".

And the signs are obvious, Ferrari are not going 100% in the right direction. And it's just one of those cruel facts of life, that if a person doesn't get the job done to the satisfaction of his employers, replacement happens and people get moved around.

I have no problem in how Ferrari are treating this decision. They could have sacked him and tossed him out on the street. But instead, Ferrari are still allowing him to be retained and contribute to the success of the team, although in a different capacity that hopefully matches up his assets with the job and goals it carries.

Now it's just a matter of time to see if the changes work, and the good ship Ferrari sails into calmer waters again.

[rfs]

Not a knee jerk reaction, but one that was long overdue. And hopefully not the only change.
I never liked Domenicali's cold and slow reaction to current events. The team needs a passionate leader with clear vision that bangs his fist on the table every now and then. They also failed to lure Newey away last year and instead saw him renew his rerbull contract. Then tgere was the abudahbi fiasco where all Ferrari had to do, is follow the leading cars strategy.

Rumour goes a new designer is poached from neweys staff. Hope thatl work. I also hope ldm will force fia to stop the rra and let teams decide themselves how much to invest.

Whatever the outcome, Ferrari is in deep trouble. No design team for 2012 and the current car very problematic and way behind red bull.

Newey said he wanted to stay in England with his family. Maybe Ferrari could do what they did with John Barnard and offer to build for Newey a design office in England.

[donskar]

Not a knee jerk reaction, but one that was long overdue. And hopefully not the only change.
I never liked Domenicali's cold and slow reaction to current events. The team needs a passionate leader with clear vision that bangs his fist on the table every now and then. They also failed to lure Newey away last year and instead saw him renew his rerbull contract. Then tgere was the abudahbi fiasco where all Ferrari had to do, is follow the leading cars strategy.

Rumour goes a new designer is poached from neweys staff. Hope thatl work. I also hope ldm will force fia to stop the rra and let teams decide themselves how much to invest.

Whatever the outcome, Ferrari is in deep trouble. No design team for 2012 and the current car very problematic and way behind red bull.

Newey said he wanted to stay in England with his family. Maybe Ferrari could do what they did with John Barnard and offer to build for Newey a design office in England.

They've been there, done that -- and it did NOT work. Is Gustav Brunner still kicking around?

[Jimi_Hendrix_1967]

Im sure a big, big pile of cash and some arrangements like you suggested couldv made a difference.
But domenicali failed. Sadly.

[xpensive]

...
They've been there, done that -- and it did NOT work. Is Gustav Brunner still kicking around?

Come now Don, have you already forgotten the gorgeous as well as groundbreaking 640 of 1989, it was designed at Guildford?

Brunner never did much good anyway, did he? They should ask Mike Gascoyne, he's got the proper attitude for Maranello!

[Jimi_Hendrix_1967]

I also think, with todays technology, video conferences, internet, Ferrari could well have a designer working in England.

[beelsebob]

I also think, with todays technology, video conferences, internet, Ferrari could well have a designer working in England.

Having worked in a scenario where we had people on the end of video conferences/the internet, let me tell you, it's very hard to get right. There's a lot to be gained from casual chats round the coffee machine in terms of keeping everyone appraised of what's going on. Keeping people at the end of skype feeling in the loop is difficult, and usually ends up with someone feeling snubbed/alienated.

[donskar]

...
They've been there, done that -- and it did NOT work. Is Gustav Brunner still kicking around?

Come now Don, have you already forgotten the gorgeous as well as groundbreaking 640 of 1989, it was designed at Guildford?

Brunner never did much good anyway, did he? They should ask Mike Gascoyne, he's got the proper attitude for Maranello!

As I recall, Ferrari spent tons of $ on Guildford and ended up selling (giving?) it to Barnard cheaply. Yes, the 640 (and it's "children") was a gorgeous and groundbreaking car. But I also recall that Barnard had little interest in developing a design. It was said at that time that Barnard turned over the design and went back to the drawing board to work on the next car. Brunner supposedly played a very important role in turning the basic car into a winner. Seems Barnard was the "blue sky" guy and Brunner was the guy who did the essential grunt work. That was one of several problems Ferrari had working with the tempermental English genius. But wait . . Are we allowed to speak of F1 matters that took place more than 10 years ago?

[xpensive]

Actually, I think Steve Nichols did a lot of development work on the 640 and 641 in the absence of Barnard.

But in all honesty, setting up a design-office in England is not what Ferrari needs, but I'm sure Mike Gascoyne can be talked into relocating to Italy, when I think he's fed up with this Lotus-Lotus mess, imagine that?

Or Pat Symonds perhaps?

[marcush.]

Brunner is the guy to have if you happen to need to build a Formula 1 car in the jungle ..something like that were the words of Peter Sauber some years ago..

Barnard did it 2 times don´t forget first time with GTO Guildford technical office which was sold to Mclaren and used to build/develop Mclarens F1 roadcar project if I remember correctly.the second time Barnard was around wiith Ferrari it was B3 technologies also in Guildford.I have heard that Barnard was not really a competent person when it came to leading a group of people or with humans per se? ,but he was spectacular in upgrading Formula 1 into what it is today.All the heros of today seem to have worked for him ,under him or have a relation to his work.alot of facilities carry his signature ,even RTN ,now Team Lotus ,Renault -formerly known as Benetton,Mclaren he really had a big impact on what we see todays.With Costa I don´t really understand what Ferrari found in him ,he never really seemed to be able to fill Byrnes Shoes even though some of his cars really worked,din´t they?

[donskar]

Actually, I think Steve Nichols did a lot of development work on the 640 and 641 in the absence of Barnard.

But in all honesty, setting up a design-office in England is not what Ferrari needs, but I'm sure Mike Gascoyne can be talked into relocating to Italy, when I think he's fed up with this Lotus-Lotus mess, imagine that?

Or Pat Symonds perhaps?

IIRC corectly Nichols came in after Barnard, replaced Brunner, and fell victim to Ferrari politics. There were some VERY dark days in the early 90's. (Nichols went on to embarrass himself at Jaguar.)

[shelly]

Do you think that Tombazis will take the role of Costa?
Ascanelli could be a name on the list, but he has been to Ferrari twice already, I do not know if he is willing to go there for the third time.