Next personnel coup at Ferrari, again at the expense of Mercedes: The Scuderia continues to upgrade and brings Jerome d’Ambrosio and Loic Serra from the Silver Arrows
How much competition can a good male friendship take? Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur is obviously testing those limits these days: Because the Frenchman is continuing to make major changes at the Reds and is once again poaching in the hunting grounds of his good buddy Toto Wolff for a golden future for Maranello.
As Ferrari announced on Monday, the racing team has signed Jerome d’Ambrosio and Loic Serra – both come from Mercedes and will start working for the Reds on October 1, 2024. After Lewis Hamilton, who will be driving for the Scuderia from 2025 and will therefore be joined by two more familiar faces in the future, this is Ferrari’s next personnel coup at the expense of the Silver Arrows.
Serra was employed as performance director at Mercedes and will take over the position of chief engineer for vehicle development at Ferrari – in this role, he will report directly to technical director Enrico Cardile. The Frenchman Serra came into Formula 1 with tire manufacturer Michelin before landing at Mercedes via BMW-Sauber.
Ex-Formula 1 driver Jerome d’Ambrosio, on the other hand, contested a total of 20 Grand Prix races for Virgin Marussia and Lotus in 2011 and 2012. After his active racing career, the Belgian was, among other things, team boss at Venturi in Formula E, together with Toto Wolff’s wife Susie, and most recently worked as head of the Mercedes junior program, where he was often seen alongside the Viennese in the Silver Arrow pit.
Now it is also clear why the Belgian apparently found it difficult to turn down the Scuderia’s offer, as Ferrari promoted its new signing directly to deputy team boss behind Vasseur.
The picture of the major personnel upheaval at Ferrari these days is rounded off by the headlines surrounding Adrian Newey: the legendary brand from Maranello is still considered the big favorite to sign the hotly tipped design guru, should he wish to continue his career in Formula 1 after recently announcing his departure from Red Bull.