The Team Principal Merri-Go-Round
The Team Principal Merri-Go-Round
Did you really think that the silly season of F1 was over?
F1 is out the next installment of the Silly Season 2022/2023: Team Principal Edition! Stream it on now Netflix! Err… Sorry, that’s still a few months away. But in the meantime, we have some Drama To Survive.
Ferrari begin the clown show one last time
Was I shocked to hear Mattia Binotto “stepped down” from the post of Team Principle of Ferrari? No. But am I surprised? Also, No.
This Season Ferrari really showed how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. With various fuck ups from both the team and the drivers, Ferrari really lived up to their mission of “Next Year™️”. Next year Ferrari will regain its glory!
How? You ask? Of course, by getting some heads rolling.
But where does the buck stop? Team Principal of course. Mattia Binotto announced that he was stepping down from his office. But if you look closely there is something stinking from within Ferrari. And it’s not the extra fuel being injected into the engine. It’s the smell of a scapegoat being sacrificed.
I hope Binotto is not the only thing changing in the team. The treatment Sebastian Vettel received at Ferrari in his last season there and the treatment Charles has received, it seems like there is a culture of blame and fear within the team. Mattia has made some mistakes this season, but he has also been responsible for rebuilding the team from the shambles it was left in after the engine debacle. 2022 was by far the most successful season for Ferrari in F1 in recent history.
Now that my Ferrari rant is over let’s move on to:
The Team Principal Merri-Go-Round
That brings us to the main topic of the day! The Team Principal Merry-Go-Round!
The German Connection
If you have been following the news you should know that Audi Motorsports has struck a deal with Sauber Engineering, the team behind Alpha Romeo. They will be partnering with Sauber Engineering who will slowly transition to being an Audi works team by 2026.
Check out this thread for the history of Sauber Engineering in F1.
This sets up the perfect stage for the silliest of seasons for the team principals.
The Ambitious German
Andreas Seidl, a German Motorsport engineer who rose through the ranks to become the Team principal at the Porsche LMP1 program and gained much success there. From there he was recruited to McLaren, to achieve a dream of winning the World Championship which soon fizzled out after a non-performant driver and car. With no success in sight, Seidl had something cooking to ensure he isn’t jobless at the end of his Contract with McLaren in 2026. Also having worked with the BMW F1 team, which essentially was the Sauber team, he will fit right at home.
Turns out a German manufacturer wants a German CEO to lead their team. Who would have thought? (This just gives me hope of a 2026 VET-MSC dream team at Audi but let’s not get that carried away!)
A French leads the Italians
Frederic Vasseur has been deemed to be the person to finally break the curse at Ferrari! Frederic made his first appearance in F1 as the Team Principal for the return of Renault to F1 in 2016. But he soon left the team due to conflicts with the then CEO, none other Cyril Abiteboul!
Frederic has since served as the CEO of Sauber Engineering and Team Principal of Alpha Romeo F1. He has shown himself to be a very calm, collected, and jovial person on the paddock. But everyone can be that when they are running a team that is in the latter half of the grid.
The Tempest begins
The announcement of Mattia stepping down set up this whirlwind which accelerated everyone’s plans! With only 10 teams on the grid, each of these spots are coveted and highly contested. The vacuum created in the Ferrari garage set up this tempest. Fredric, who was moving to Ferrari, created 2 vacancies in the Sauber/Audi camp.
Seidl, who was anyways planning to join Audi in 2026, decided to skip the wait and get things going from the ground up. He also learnt something from his former boss at McLaren and decided to take the CEO post and hire a new Team Principal for the team. Thankfully, McLaren was aware of his plans, or so they claim, and have announced that Andrea Stella, the Racing Director at McLaren will be their Team Principal.
While all of this storm is brewing, Williams suddenly decided that Josh Capito was the cause of all the problems at Williams and decided to put his head on the chopping block.
With half of the drivers on the grid swapped/replaced and a quarter of Team Principals recycled/sacrificed, who knows whether that brings in some closer racing on track or more of one team dominating while the rest of the teams running around like toddlers on the playground.
Afterthoughts
Really hoping that Fredric is the one who finally solves Ferrari’s woes and gets rid of the Next Year™️ Syndrome. The fans, the drivers, the team (the actual people behind the team) deserve some success and bring glory back to Ferrari.
Imagine what a spectacle it would be if we have a real three-way battle for the championship.
Ferrari vs Red Bull vs Mercedes.
Imagine!
CTA
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