Ferrari reportedly are on the verge of losing out a key member of their technical staff, Simone Resta. The engineer has been associated with the Italian outfit since 2001. After a brief stint with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari’s customer team, Resta then went on to serve as Haas’ Technical Director for three seasons. Now, the 53-year-old has been called back to Ferrari, but the team’s intentions are to offload him to their GT3 operations. Sensing an opportunity, AlphaTauri, now Racing Bulls, want to poach him under the guidance of ex-Ferrari Racing Director, Laurent Mekies.
As per the reports coming out of Motorsport.com’s Italian wing, interest in Resta soared once the news came out that he was departing Haas. The news of his exit came out just a few hours before Guenther Steiner’s sacking was made public.
And while Resta might be interested in a GT3 role with the latest Ferrari 296, an old Ferrari connection in Mekies might convince the Italian to extend his time in Formula 1. Resta played a key role in the Ferrari hierarchy.
Being associated with the team now for more than two decades, he is a key member of the technical staff and knows the operations of the Italian outfit through and through. Naturally, with pressure mounting on the Prancing Horse to deliver championships, the last thing they want is one of their oldest servants being lured away by a rival organization.
Resta’s decision to stick with Ferrari albeit outside of F1, or move to AlphaTauri’s latest avatar would be highly influenced by how Mekies pushes the issue. The two have been instrumental in building Ferrari as a thriving force in the sport and the latter is very motivated to reunite with his erstwhile Chief Designer.
Could Simone Resta’s departure spell doom for Ferrari in 2024?
Losing someone of Simone Resta’s standing and technical capabilities will surely hurt Ferrari. But the bigger question that the Maranello executives have to ponder is whether it could derail their efforts to fight Red Bull in 2024. The team does not believe Resta’s departure would have a monumental impact on their championship chances.
2024 sets a clear benchmark for Ferrari. After two years of incessantly battling Red Bull, Ferrari have come up short each time. Last year, despite a poor start, the team did develop the SF-23 to close the gap to the RB19. In 2024, they would be hoping to build on that design philosophy to finally dethrone Red Bull and win their first title since 2008.
