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| Ferrari use Enzo's old method to recruit much-needed new broom | Ferrari use Enzo's old method to recruit much-needed new broom |
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| Everyone liked Stefano Domenicali. That was the problem. Ferrari's team principal was a nice man in a world where niceness, even when accompanied by extreme competence, is usually considered to be the virtue of losers. | Everyone liked Stefano Domenicali. That was the problem. Ferrari's team principal was a nice man in a world where niceness, even when accompanied by extreme competence, is usually considered to be the virtue of losers. |
| Domenicali, who resigned suddenly at the start of this week, had been in the job for six years, before which he had served as Jean Todt's deputy. Taking over the top job from Todt was like succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United: the wily Frenchman had spent 15 years assembling and supervising a team of brilliant designers and engineers who secured the unprecedented run of five consecutive drivers' titles for Michael Schumacher – plus one for Kimi Raikkonen – and eight constructors' titles. | Domenicali, who resigned suddenly at the start of this week, had been in the job for six years, before which he had served as Jean Todt's deputy. Taking over the top job from Todt was like succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United: the wily Frenchman had spent 15 years assembling and supervising a team of brilliant designers and engineers who secured the unprecedented run of five consecutive drivers' titles for Michael Schumacher – plus one for Kimi Raikkonen – and eight constructors' titles. |
| At the time, Domenicali seemed to be exactly what Formula One needed: a 42‑year‑old of intelligence, integrity and fresh perspectives, capable of blowing away some of the noxious clouds of cynicism that had long since polluted the sport. There were similar hopes when Martin Whitmarsh took over the running of McLaren's F1 operation from the veteran Ron Dennis, the younger newcomer warming up a previously austere organisation and dispelling its air of pomposity. | At the time, Domenicali seemed to be exactly what Formula One needed: a 42‑year‑old of intelligence, integrity and fresh perspectives, capable of blowing away some of the noxious clouds of cynicism that had long since polluted the sport. There were similar hopes when Martin Whitmarsh took over the running of McLaren's F1 operation from the veteran Ron Dennis, the younger newcomer warming up a previously austere organisation and dispelling its air of pomposity. |
| To outsiders, these were two men whose word could be trusted, who did not make a fetish of concealing the truth about anything but the most necessarily confidential technical matters. It seemed that Formula One, entering the final phase of the Bernie Ecclestone era, would be emerging from a long period in which obsessive secrecy and political chicanery were the dominant modes of behaviour. In that sense, Domenicali and Whitmarsh were symbolic figures. | To outsiders, these were two men whose word could be trusted, who did not make a fetish of concealing the truth about anything but the most necessarily confidential technical matters. It seemed that Formula One, entering the final phase of the Bernie Ecclestone era, would be emerging from a long period in which obsessive secrecy and political chicanery were the dominant modes of behaviour. In that sense, Domenicali and Whitmarsh were symbolic figures. |
| Now they are both gone, and we can probably say goodbye to those hopes. Formula One has lost two senior figures who commanded universal respect for their personal qualities but failed by the only yardstick that matters in sport, that of results. Two teams who have both enjoyed long periods of near-invincibility in the past quarter of a century found themselves traipsing around in midfield, struggling to adapt to a new set of technical regulations, testing the patience of the men at the very top. | Now they are both gone, and we can probably say goodbye to those hopes. Formula One has lost two senior figures who commanded universal respect for their personal qualities but failed by the only yardstick that matters in sport, that of results. Two teams who have both enjoyed long periods of near-invincibility in the past quarter of a century found themselves traipsing around in midfield, struggling to adapt to a new set of technical regulations, testing the patience of the men at the very top. |
| The sudden upheaval at Ferrari is a reminder of the days when the Italian team changed managers from season to season in a restless and often self-defeating search for success. After a long period of relative stability, Luca di Montezemolo – the current president – seems to have adopted the approach of Enzo Ferrari, the man who gave him the job of running the team back in 1973. | The sudden upheaval at Ferrari is a reminder of the days when the Italian team changed managers from season to season in a restless and often self-defeating search for success. After a long period of relative stability, Luca di Montezemolo – the current president – seems to have adopted the approach of Enzo Ferrari, the man who gave him the job of running the team back in 1973. |
| His choice of a replacement for Domenicali is not a figure from within the racing team, or even the racing world, but a 43-year-old executive whose success in increasing Ferrari's sales of road cars in the US and Chinese markets has made him a golden boy inside the company. | His choice of a replacement for Domenicali is not a figure from within the racing team, or even the racing world, but a 43-year-old executive whose success in increasing Ferrari's sales of road cars in the US and Chinese markets has made him a golden boy inside the company. |
| The arrival of Marco Mattiacci is a reminder that Enzo Ferrari sourced his team managers from all over the place. Nello Ugolini, one of the first, had managed football teams. Eugenio Dragoni was the heir to a cosmetics and pharmaceuticals business. Franco Gozzi was his barber's son-in-law. Marco Piccinini was a member of a banking family. | The arrival of Marco Mattiacci is a reminder that Enzo Ferrari sourced his team managers from all over the place. Nello Ugolini, one of the first, had managed football teams. Eugenio Dragoni was the heir to a cosmetics and pharmaceuticals business. Franco Gozzi was his barber's son-in-law. Marco Piccinini was a member of a banking family. |
| Improbably enough, two of them, Franco Lini and Romolo Tavoni, were journalists – and it was Tavoni who took the punch thrown by a driver, Jean Behra, after the volatile Frenchman had blown up his engine on purpose during the French Grand Prix at Rheims in 1959. Behra believed that he was being given equipment inferior to that of the team's other drivers, and the blow cost him his job. | Improbably enough, two of them, Franco Lini and Romolo Tavoni, were journalists – and it was Tavoni who took the punch thrown by a driver, Jean Behra, after the volatile Frenchman had blown up his engine on purpose during the French Grand Prix at Rheims in 1959. Behra believed that he was being given equipment inferior to that of the team's other drivers, and the blow cost him his job. |
| Enzo Ferrari, who stayed away from the circuits, relied on his managers to feed him information, and the drivers often suspected, with good reason, that he was not being given the whole truth. Two years after John Surtees had won the 1964 title for Ferrari, a series of battles with Dragoni – who accused him of industrial espionage – led to the sacking of the great Englishman, a disastrous decision. But the turnover of managers almost matched that of drivers: few lasted more than a season or two, and the team endured long spells – from 1965 to 1974, for instance, or 1980 to 1998 – when the prospect of another title seemed a distant mirage. | Enzo Ferrari, who stayed away from the circuits, relied on his managers to feed him information, and the drivers often suspected, with good reason, that he was not being given the whole truth. Two years after John Surtees had won the 1964 title for Ferrari, a series of battles with Dragoni – who accused him of industrial espionage – led to the sacking of the great Englishman, a disastrous decision. But the turnover of managers almost matched that of drivers: few lasted more than a season or two, and the team endured long spells – from 1965 to 1974, for instance, or 1980 to 1998 – when the prospect of another title seemed a distant mirage. |
| This is a more professional era, and when Montezemolo appointed Todt in 1993, after another period of turmoil following Enzo Ferrari's death, he chose a man steeped in motor sport, a successful rally co-driver and the mastermind of Peugot's successful Le Mans campaign. Domenicali, an economics graduate, had spent many years with the company, most of them at the sharp end of the racing team, before accepting the ultimate promotion. | This is a more professional era, and when Montezemolo appointed Todt in 1993, after another period of turmoil following Enzo Ferrari's death, he chose a man steeped in motor sport, a successful rally co-driver and the mastermind of Peugot's successful Le Mans campaign. Domenicali, an economics graduate, had spent many years with the company, most of them at the sharp end of the racing team, before accepting the ultimate promotion. |
| As with Whitmarsh at McLaren, however, there was a sense that Ferrari under Domenicali lacked the vital ingredient to transform them into winners once again: the equivalent of the sliver of ice in the heart that Graham Greene once said was indispensable to a writer. The right things were being done. Domenicali took the difficult decision to shut down the wind tunnel for a year while rebuilding it in order to obtain more accurate results, and having begun his reign by promoting Italians to jobs previously held by engineers of many nations, he was not too proud to reinvigorate the technical side by giving senior roles to McLaren's Pat Fry and Lotus's James Allison. But with just 20 race wins in the past seven seasons and only two last year, the team seemed to be finding it impossible to get even a glimpse of the sort of dominance they enjoyed in the era when Todt, Schumacher and Ross Brawn held sway. | |
| Perhaps Montezemolo is right to conclude that, rather than rehiring Brawn or bringing in Flavio Briatore to shake up things, an outsider with keen managerial instincts is more likely to bring the necessary critical eye to bear on the team's structure and performance. Speaking to journalists in Shanghai on Friday, Mattiacci referred to his experience in "benchmarking business structures". The fact that he almost certainly lacks an intimate knowledge of aerodynamic theory or tyre degradation rates will be unimportant if he knows how to get a group of talented people firing on all cylinders. | Perhaps Montezemolo is right to conclude that, rather than rehiring Brawn or bringing in Flavio Briatore to shake up things, an outsider with keen managerial instincts is more likely to bring the necessary critical eye to bear on the team's structure and performance. Speaking to journalists in Shanghai on Friday, Mattiacci referred to his experience in "benchmarking business structures". The fact that he almost certainly lacks an intimate knowledge of aerodynamic theory or tyre degradation rates will be unimportant if he knows how to get a group of talented people firing on all cylinders. |
| "I come with a lot of humility," the new man added but he will find that quality not much in demand in Formula One. Someone, perhaps Montezemolo, will already have reminded him of one of Enzo Ferrari's most famous sayings. "I am not an engineer," the old man said. "I am an agitator of men and machines." That is one tradition Mattiacci will be expected to honour as he tries to restore the lustre of the sport's most charismatic name. |