How Ferrari's organisational changes can boost Hamilton: Who is Loïc Serra?

Who is Loic Serra?

Loic Serra was born in France in March 1972. He opted to study Mechanical Engineering at University and went to straight to motorsport after graduating. He worked for Michelin and quickly moved over to their Formula One department. The tyre supplier worked with many teams on the F1 grid during his time at the company, including Williams, McLaren and Red Bull Racing.

Serra continued to work on Michelin's Formula 1 project until the company withdrew in 2006. However, the Frenchman wanted to work with Formula 1 and moved to BMW Sauber. There, he was Head of Vehicle Performance. In 2007, the BMW Sauber Formula 1 team finished second in the Constructors' World Championship, though they were more than 100 points behind Champions Ferrari. A few years later, BMW withdrew from Formula 1 themselves. Serra moved over to Mercedes.

Loic Serra at Mercedes

Serra joined Mercedes in 2010 and was one of the key players in setting the team up for their run of World Championships in the era that followed. He joined with the title of Chief Engineer Vechicle Engineering. He got a promotion in 2013 to Head of Vehicle Dynamics. Finally he became a Performance Director. He oversaw a range of different departments including both aerodynamics and power unit.

During his time at Mercedes, the team won every single World Championship Formula 1 had to offer between 2014 and 2020. In 2021, Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the Drivers' Championship but the team won the Constructors' Championship. This ensured they won every team title in that era of Formula and Serra played a key role in attaining that success. Serra worked with World Champions Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Hamilton during his time at Mercedes.

In September 2024, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur confirmed that Serra will join the Italian team Technical Director Chassis. He will, therefore, pave the way for Hamilton who make the same move during the winter break. Hamilton be become a Ferrari driver next year after his anouncement was made before the 2024 season got underway.

How the move could help Hamilton

Vasseur and Hamilton have known each other for a long time. Vasseur and Hamilton, excelled together in feeder series on their way towards the pinnacle of motorsport. The Frenchman had a good eye for young talents and founded the ASM back in 1996. After Hamilton finished fifth in the standings of the 2004 Formula 3 Euro Series with Manor, he joined ASM in 2005. Hamilton became the champion that year, in a competition where he had to face drivers like Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Suttil and Lucas di Grassi. The two also had a relationship during Hamilton's time in Formula 2.

However, aside from Vasseur, Hamilton is moving to Ferrari without much working experiance with the team members in red. For a while, there was a question mark over whether Peter Bonnington, Hamilton's engineer over the team radio, would follow the seven-time World Champion to Ferrari. It always seemed unlikely, but was officially confirmed recently when the Brit got a promotion at Mercedes.

However, with Loic Serra, Hamilton will have at least one other key name who he has a lot of working experiance with.