After Preparing $49,000,000 Masterplan to Lure Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari Gear Up to Poach Mercedes’ Mastermind to Complete a Massive Revamp

Aston Martin not only poached Dan Fallows but also many Red Bull engineers along with him. Look where they are now. On cloud nine, with things only looking to go northward. Just days after Ferrari launched the $49 Million worth plan to lure Lewis Hamilton, they are back at it with a plan to poach the Mercedes mastermind to start a new era at Ferrari. But who is the Mercedes mastermind and what are Ferrari’s plans?

Ferrari has struggled with producing a competitive time in the past decade. Even in the year in which they did produce a competitive car, it was never the quickest one. Ferrari took the first step toward changing the attitude by replacing Mattia Binotto with Frederic Vasseur. As rumors of Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari catch traction, another rumor about the engineering side of the team has been revealed. 

After John Elkann’s meeting concluded at Maranello, rumors of Ferrari preparing a $49 million contract started going around the paddock. Gazzetta suggests that the Ferrari president wants to rebuild Ferrari around Lewis Hamilton by making him the pivot. A long-term contract is being offered with the idea of the Briton convincing some engineers, including James Allison, to join in with him. 

However, the idea does not seem terrible as James Allison has already worked with Ferrari during his F1 career. First from 2000 to 2005, and then again from 2013 to 2016. James Allison overlooked when Mercedes built its last championship-winning car and was also with Ferrari during the Schumacher domination era. However, nothing can be confirmed or ensured until an official statement is released. 

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Whilst Frederic Vasseur’s arrival has surely helped, Ferrari still requires some more changes, as Ferrari isn’t just another F1 team. An Italian racing driver recently opened up about the challenges faced at Ferrari and how the last French TP for Scuderia went about it. 

Frederic Vasseur needs more than just experience to get Ferrari back to winning ways 

Jean Todt was the last successful Ferrari Team Principal. None of the TPs after his departure have been able to replicate his success. With Vasseur arriving, the hopes were high for him to replicate his fellow Frenchman’s success. However, Ivan Capelli explains that Ferrari isn’t an ordinary F1 team and is a different dimension altogether. Also, Vasseur only arrived with a plan, whereas Jean Todt arrived with an army of engineers. Frederic Vasseur needs technicians who will work for and according to him. 

According to Formulapassion.it, Ivan Capelli said, “He is a man of experience. But this is not an F1 team. It’s Ferrari. He realizes that he’s in a dimension beyond and he’s paying a bit of the price. And he finds himself a car that conceptually does not belong to him. Comparisons are often made with Todt, who took the Ferrari and turned it over. But he didn’t arrive alone. He brought a group of technicians with him. Vasseur arrived with his briefcase and that was it. F1 cannot be invented. It must be programmed, experienced, and managed.”

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What do you make of Ferrari’s plan? If it does happen, will it guarantee success?