The Ferrari base at Maranello has been going through rough patches in recent times. After the back-to-back blow of the Bahrain GP and the departure of David Sanchez, the Italian camp is reportedly facing yet another top executive exit.
This time it’s Laurent Mekies, the assistant team principal and race director for the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team.
This comes right after the Prancing Horse was dealt with severe blows by Charles Leclerc’s DNF in Bahrain and Carlos Sainz’s position loss to Fernando Alonso. To end this, it was Sanchez’s willing departure to McLaren after citing gardening leave.
As per Scuderia Fans, Mekies is all set to leave the team after the SF-23 suffered technical issues in Bahrain. Despite huge expectations, the Prancing Horse failed to make amends against the mighty Red Bulls.
#MeetTheTeam Get to know some of our engineers!
First up… we have our Sporting Director Laurent Mekies 🇫🇷 presented by @ray_ban 👤
Laurent joined us back at the end of 2018 but has been in #F1 for over 20 years! #essereFerrari 🔴 pic.twitter.com/CKqjxeJOZ2
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) May 29, 2020
As a result, Ferrari is under massive pressure and this can be felt by the number of top executives deciding to leave the Italian team.
As per multiple reports, the bad performance of Ferrari in Bahrain was one of the leading factors to unleash a massive quake in Maranello. So much so, that it saw two top team executives consider an exit in about 48 hours before each other.
Internal discontent to be blamed for multiple exits
According to the reports by Corriere dello Sport and FormulaPassion, the internal discontent between the top executives at Ferrari is to be blamed for the back-to-back exits.
F(red) ❤️ pic.twitter.com/c8444N1alc
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 17, 2023
The discontent was caused by the rift between Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur and its managing director Benedetto Vigna. As per reports, president John Elkann asked Vigna to commission Vasseur. This was because the former Alfa Romeo boss enjoys little power than his counterparts in other teams despite being a team principal.
Giving Vasseur more power means he can bestow his engineers with more capabilities. Something similar to Mattia Binotto, who used to side with his engineers when things went wrong at Maranello.
Also Read: Lewis Hamilton Could Complete Dream Ferrari Move if Mercedes Keeps Making Mistakes With Car
Despite issues, Ferrari sees a silver lining
Even though Ferrari is going through a rough patch off late, the Prancing Horse can solace themselves on the other hand. As Sanchez’s departure is on the brink, the Scuderia is in a reported discussion to bring in Alessandro Cinelli.
Currently serving as the head of aerodynamics in Alfa Romeo, Cinelli worked for Ferrari for 17 years before moving out. Moreover, the esteemed engineer also has a reputation for being in the team during Ferrari’s golden period from 2000 to 2004.
Also Read: Ferrari Engineer Joins McLaren After Bahrain GP Chaos
