Technical restructuring continues at Ferrari

As we announced to you last week, Aldo Costa has, according to the official version, relinquished his role as Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari. The company then stated that the Italian engineer would take on new roles within the enterprise.

According to the German newspaper Auto Motor und Sport, Aldo Costa has reportedly been transferred to the ‘series car’ department in Maranello, with the same salary he received in his previous position, at least until the end of his contract, which expires in two years.

Joan Villadelprat, who had joined the Scuderia in 1987, coming from, like John Barnard, McLaren, warned just after the Spanish Grand Prix: « The pressure on Ferrari at the moment is brutal. […] Things need to change, that’s obvious. But they must at all costs avoid chopping heads, a typical reaction at Ferrari when things don’t go as planned. Instead, they need to consolidate the technical team and build their confidence so they continue to do their work » confided the Spaniard, just days before Aldo Costa’s ‘resignation’, stating that, in his opinion, the Scuderia needed « more time. »

The day after the arrival of the Italian engineer, Villadelprat delivered the same message in the columns of the daily newspaper AS: “In a company like Ferrari, you cannot give in to panic. After five races, it was not the time to make big changes, but the pressure was too great.”

Raul Romojaro, a journalist for the Spanish daily, had reported a heated discussion between Emilio Botin, CEO of Santander, Ferrari’s sponsor, and Stefano Domenicali. Ferrari’s denial was then scathing: « Someone in Spain, perhaps suffering from sunstroke, invented a science fiction story about an alleged discussion in the pits that supposedly took place on Saturday afternoon after the qualifying session, between the team principal of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, Stefano Domenicali, and the president of Santander, Emilio Botin. »

In any case, according to Joan Villadelprat, continuing without Costa is undoubtedly a counterproductive measure because he is the same man who, last year, produced a fantastic car for Ferrari.

For Fernando Alonso, however, when things go wrong, something must be done. The Spanish driver, who extended his contract with Maranello until 2016, told Auto Motor und Sport: I have full confidence in those who made this decision. Now, we need to review the organizational chart quickly to lose as little time as possible.

Aldo Costa might not be the only one to pay the price for the Scuderia’s lackluster start to the season. Stefano Domenicali himself admitted in *La Gazetta dello Sport* that his position could also be at risk: “Of course, I am responsible and I will try to solve our problems as best as I can, but if things don’t go well, then it’s normal for the person in charge to pay the price.” However, the Italian stated that he was not worried and understood the rules of the game, acknowledging that the decision was up to someone “above [him].”

This did not prevent him from putting pressure on Nikola Tombazis, head of aerodynamic development, who will have to try to come up with a winning project for 2012. The Italian magazine *Autosprint* also claims that Ferrari might poach Jon Iley, dissatisfied with his current situation at McLaren Mercedes, to support the Greek engineer. The Briton, who worked at Jordan and Renault before joining Scuderia in 2004 as chief aerodynamicist, could therefore return to the team he left after the F60’s failure. This aerodynamic engineer, a specialist in wind tunnel data analysis, could thus be received as the savior by a team struggling in this area and also allow Nikola Tombazis to focus solely on the design of the future Maranello single-seater.

For its part, Auto Motor und Sport claims that Tim Densham, chief designer of Lotus Renault Grand Prix, and Jon Tomlinson, recently let go by the Williams team, have been contacted by the Italian team, while the names of Rob Marshall and Peter Podromou, former colleagues of Pat Fry, now engineers at Red Bull Racing, are also being mentioned in Maranello.