Ferrari 'steal' Wolff's right-hand man ahead of Hamilton's arrival
Ferrari have officially announced they have appointed Loic Serra and Jerome D'Ambrosio. The two are from Mercedes and have been serving their gardening leave recently. They will join Lewis Hamilton in making a switch from Mercedes to the Maranello-based team.
Serra will start work as Head of Chassis Performance Engineering. The Frenchman had previously worked in F1 for Michelin, BMW-Sauber and then Mercedes. At Mercedes, Serra last served as Performance Director.
Besides Serra, Belgian D'Ambrosio will also be acquired from Mercedes. D'Ambrosio was seen as Toto Wolff's successor, but the Belgian is now making the move to Italy. The former Formula One driver will become Frederic Vasseur's right-hand man as Deputy Team Principal. The pair will join Lewis Hamilton at the Italian racing team, who will leave Mercedes come the end of the 2024 season.
D'Ambrosio already has a distinguished career in motorsport. The Belgian himself was a professional racing driver until 2020 and even drove twenty Grands Prix in Formula 1. After his active career as a driver, D'Ambrosio started a career as a team principal. He did this creditably with the Venturi Racing team in Formula E, after which he was given the opportunity at Mercedes. D'Ambrosio and Serra will start at Ferrari on 1 October, 2024.
This is not news, both left awhile ago, this article is just saying their gardening leave is done and they can go back to work. Offcourse is was shock when they did announce this a while back. But like I said the same with Redbull or any other team, staff changes will happen, especially with the cost cap preventing teams that have maxed their budgets. So if staff want an increase in salary they look at their options and if better ones come along they leave.
But we don't 100% know they could be leaving because of the MB toxicity that some claim.
FIA need to keep an eye on Ferrari making innumerable number high level hiring. This usually translates to higher paychecks being paid out to these people compared to what they were being paid before by the other teams. This could easily pile up their annual budget way over the required budget cap. I think Ferrari will try to cheat on their book keeping and filings to hide their payouts somehow or at least will try to find a way to underestimate the expenses.
Oh what a relief ,an article about staff leaving that has nothing to do with Horner ,his PA, Newey or Red Bull Racing . Thank God for small mercies..
Rumours that the PA might also be joining Ferrari.
She will have to learn how to text in Italian, but at least she'll get wined and dined this time.
Horner's fault I guess ?
Jokes aside, I can't speak for D'Ambrosio, but unlike the article is suggesting, Serra's departure from MB happened way before HAM signed with Ferrari. Therefore I don't think it has something to do with HAM's departure.
"D'Ambrosio was seen as Toto Wolff's successor..."
If true thats a telling bit of news. End times must be near; at least thats what the headline would read if it was Horners replacement.
Exactly!
I mean MB has lost quite a lot high grade staff like Costa (equivalent of Newey at RB), Cowell (head of PU), Elliott (technical chief), Vowles (considered Wolff's right hand) and many more.
Ok, regarding Vowles, he joined Williams and is somehow still related to MB.
Interestingly, Serra is a suspension and tire specialist. Remember how Ferrari was struggling with the tires in the past years? But now suddenly the are about on par with the rest of the top teams in this regard. ?
But yeah, it ain't RB, so not worth mentioning an eventual "toxic environment" at MB.
Edit:
Notice, except for Cristi Tap, how the "usual" commentators got silent in this comment section? ?
Elliott quit his job because of how toto and lewis was slate how bsd the car was last year
Your all over the place!..... If you read the comments between Mavric and myself, he is constantly saying how Toxic Merc is even though we've had no articles in regards to that.... But he (and you by the looks of it) don't like it when RB internal issues are in the public... Don't blame me for Horner taking D*** pics
When we get a Toto article about him sending pics of his pee pee.....You are sad!
Well yeah, because you randomly brought up AD and Lewis failing at Ferrari, so I don't know what your trying to get at by bringing it up?
AD is in the past and we'll find out about Lewis next year....
???... No idea why you decided to bring AD into it, I can only think your trying to goad me into a reaction as it's a bit random to bring it up?
Fighting??... Lol.... I asked Mav a question which I shouldn't have really as he never responds to anyway....... And myself and J4 are having a disagreement of opinions.....
You can cheer up by watching the last lap in 2021 AD on YouTube so you can be happy again.
Stop fighting with everybody all the time.
Yes I know that Mav, but what was the reason? You have no idea as he hasn't said anything.
And where did you read that Mavric? Or are you just making stuff up again?
Not sure if I was on your list of the "usual " but sincere apologies that I haven't commented soon enough for your liking..?.. Heaven forbid I put family and work before a blog...
MB have lost a lot of staff recently and yip they're could be issues or could be having a clear out and starting again, but I imagine the rumours section would of been full of toxic Merc articles if that was the case?..... We've haven't had anything like that (yet) ..... We'll just go with what RB fans say about the Horner saga..... Move along nothing to see here... : )
We're behaving like Statler and Waldorf.. : ) you can decide who's who..?
You seem to be getting a bit muddled here..... You make a snide comment about the "usuals" not commenting so I made a comment when I saw it, then you say I jumped in? It's a public blog!.... I didn't get personal with my initial comment, I gave my opinion on the story..... Your the one that then started making up accusations about myself spamming and Cristi getting personal..... Your no better than the rest of us so stop the hypocrisy....
And now you accuse me of being aggressive? Really?...get a grip, it's nothing but words on a screen..... If you have better things to do then go do them, you don't have to respond to me but I suspect your ego won't let you stop... Nothing more to add except we're both getting a bit silly ... : )
See F1nut, you're getting personal again...
No one in here mentioned you.
We were discussing the topic.
CT decided to get personal without even trying to argument.
Then you jumped in and started to get personal as well. Telling nothing about the topic, feeling addressed for no reason. You simply delivered yourself on a silver tablet, don't blame me.
It is pretty clear who of us needs to calm down in first place and it's certainly not me.
So, do you have something to add to the article or you wanna continue getting personal?
In the first case, we can have a discussion.
In the second one, you can continue your aggressive nonsense alone because I've better things to do to be honest.
" You put yourself into this" ...Haha.... you really need to calm down a bit, take a few days off from spamming it'll help you in the long term.... : )
Oh, you're getting personal I see ?
"last 3 RB articles that could be construed as negative.... Shockingly enough no spamming comments from myself"
Did you notice I also wrote positive things?
And, did I say you spammed in those 3 RB articles?
No, you wanna talk about telling porkies? Look at the comment I'm replying to...
Anyway, you just made me win. Not because I'm good, oh no. You put yourself into this ✌️
"You've been caught lying"
"your also a Hypocrite"
"Relax it's just a blog"
Well, find the error ☝️
Excuses? not really, just my point of view.... You've been caught lying and your also a Hypocrite for accusing Cristi of the same thing you do, be a big boy and own it for once..... Yawn! I see you've gone back to your default setting of "bad day" "upset" ...etc...... makes change from " triggered" but try and think up some new patter for a change..... Relax it's just a blog....?
Try to find excuses as much as you like...
What's going on today F1nut huh? Having a bad day?
You sound upset...
You'll need to pay attention more I go days without commenting, so If you can be bothered go back through the articles and have a look. During the Horner saga I think I had 2 comments over dozens of articles it didn't interest me ... The majority of articles I comment on are mostly Merc/Lewis related usually in response to some pathetic hypocritical comment from an RB super Max fan...
"spamming the comment section"
Ha, the Irony of that, you really enjoy making stuff up don't you? Yourself and Mavric do nothing but spam the comments
I think I've said Toxic once with regards to RB and that was in response to someone dissing another team because they weren't the mighty RB.
I hardly think telling someone to put glasses on to read is getting personal but if you do then fine...
I believe one of the things you've said to me in the past I live up to my name, seems a bit personal?.. I'll agree with you it's amusing though.... : )
Oh oh.... I just had a quick look and the last 3 RB articles that could be construed as negative.... Shockingly enough no spamming comments from myself, but surprise surprise the J4 and Mav double act are there spamming away!.... Stop telling porkies please, You don't want to be known as a " Horner".... ?
"Heaven forbid I put family and work before a blog..."
Strangely this doesn't seem to be the case in topics about RB...
The thing is, and apparently you feel addressed by this, everytime there's a negative article about RB, there's a bunch of the ones you appreciate, spamming the comment section in no time. Telling how toxic RB is.
This time, no one even mentioned a supposed toxic environment at MB, and CT goes crazy with zero arguments and getting personal.
Almost the entire rest of the bunch goes silent.
It's just funny to me ?
Are people jumping a sinking ship like some claim the case is for redbull?
Or are there now other standards if Redbull is not involved.
It's becoming hard for top teams to retain important people due to budget cap which wasn't the case previously.
Hence, identifying and retaining top people has become even more important in budget cap era.
Toto is failing in this regard whereas Horner has locked down important people in technical/aerodynamics department until 2028. Newey leaving was inevitable.
Fred is also doing good job of putting right people at right places. If he gets hold of Newey that will be icing on the cake for them going in to 2026.
Oh dear merc lossing more staff funby after toto said he had lot cv from rbr .but vasseur said he had lods from merc .looks like toto mangement style not working .toto lossing lot of good staff
You can t compare Newey and Broadhurst with D Ambrosia...Only you can make such a comparison...
Apparently the rules in a public forum state you can only comment when the previous comment is directed at you. Who knew eh?
So did I win our argument a while back when you started getting personal? Good to know?
And I m talking with Mavric not with you........Put some glasses yif you don t see well..
You know you won when "they" attack you personally ?
He don't even know you and suggest you to put some glasses on. He's definitely lacking arguments.
I'm not talking about D Ambrosia. List of important people Merc lost (from Aerodynamic and engine departments) in last few years is huge.
Calm down Mavric your getting too excited...... Merc have lost staff, so have RB..... All teams go through this now and again..... We haven't had any "Merc are Toxic" in the rumour section yet.... When we get a Toto article about him sending pics of his pee pee then you can gloat.. : )
Are you ok? You seem to be making random statements about Lewis for some reason..... I have no idea how Lewis will do at Ferrari, we'll find out next year.... But you have your mind made up already, so again good for you.
??? No one mentioned Lewis winning at Ferrari?
They won't ever...
??? No one mentioned Lewis winning at Ferrari? Whatever happens at Ferrari good on Lewis for taking up the challenge.
If Leclerc beats Lewis then so be it, I'm not sure the point you're making as I didn't say anything about Lewis?
"So called Champion" Ah I see now your one of those posters, good for you...
Mavric can Gloat now because even if Ferrari take Toto as well Lewis not going to win.
You must remember nut that Ferrari hasn't got a motor in like Merc had in 2014-2020 for everybody win so Charles will do the winning in Ferrari.
It's been over 2 years and no wins,for a 7 time so called Champion that's sad.
There are, of course, different standards. One team is "just a drinks company" therefore sub-stanard.
That's one of the reasons why RB is not appreciated by manufacturers in F1.
At the beginning, they laughed at them. They said something similar to "an energy drink company is coming to have fun and lose money in the process. Not to be taken seriously".
Then they hired Newey and started to invest massively. The laughs good quieter.
But the trouble for RB started when they started to win championships.
Let's be honest, F1 is a commercial platform for car manufacturers. So they can show how good they are and communicate in commercials accordingly. A powerful marketing tool for them, as long as they are successful.
But then they got beaten by an energy drink company which, doesn't look good for the manufacturers.
But the later can only grab themselves by their own nose ?
No worries. Just wonder how the missus was getting along after the ordeal. Hope well.
Hey! Would be the third time I miss to reply to you ?
Can you reply to this comment? So it appears on top of my notifications and will answer this evening and we can have a private discussion ?
Sorry for that.
I've neglected to ask how the missus is doing. Hope physio is working and she's getting better. You should take her for a nice bit of Rubia Gallega steak and a jar of clear. ?
Never had a RB, Monster Energy or other type of those drinks. I'll stick with Clear, Apple, store bought whiskeys, Coke or milk.
Fizzy drinks without me.
I don't like RB, I can barely handle a coffee ?
Ferrari are slowly trying to build a juggernaut! Vasseur may have been the best thing to happen to them!
What @Divergent2 posted. Seems Fred has the management buy-in to do what he needs without the meddling as had seemed on the past. Refreshing as a Coke after a 150k pedal around.
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