Domenicali Steps Down!

[Redragon]

The best TP are the ones who owns more than half of the team, when their pockets are to loose.
Recent examples, RB and Sauber, they bought their teams after sponsors left and they resucite Brawn and Sauber in less of one year.
At least that's it is my opinion.

[beelsebob]

Honestly, I'm amazed by the amount of impact that you guys think a manager can have. Ultimately, if the car is crap, that's down to the people designing the car. The most impact that management will have had is 1) setting budgets 2) hiring in the right people 3) setting priorities.

The only one I can really fault Stephano on is number 2 (which hey, is probably enough to hang him, but they should be setting to work on that right now).

[turbof1]

The best TP are the ones who owns more than half of the team, when their pockets are to loose.
Recent examples, RB and Sauber, they bought their teams after sponsors left and they resucite Brawn and Sauber in less of one year.
At least that's it is my opinion.

Yes, very correct. And they effectively are in that leader's position. This isn't true for Ferrari unfortunaly. It's very sad for Domenicali actually: he was given the tittle of TP, but it's hollow. He wasn't given the actual function, only the responsibilities of it. This happens very commonly infact at bigger companies active on stock exchange markets. The board places a puppet in the position of the CEO, while keeping complete control over the company. When things go wrong, they can put all the blame at the CEO, even though he could have done little about it.

[lebesset]

no good hiring the right people if you can't get them all playing the same tune , that's what management has to be able to do

from ron dennis's comments , that's what he feels has gone wrong at McLaren

[foxmulder_ms]

I was expecting this last year frankly, but still I am surprised to see it happen during the ongoing season.

[astracrazy]

Honestly, I'm amazed by the amount of impact that you guys think a manager can have. Ultimately, if the car is crap, that's down to the people designing the car. The most impact that management will have had is 1) setting budgets 2) hiring in the right people 3) setting priorities.

The only one I can really fault Stephano on is number 2 (which hey, is probably enough to hang him, but they should be setting to work on that right now).

Have you not just contradicted yourself a little? You say your amazed about the impact the manager can have, then you list 3 highly important things his in charge for. If you have the best staff but a tiny budget or you set them working on a crap car all year and not looking to the future then you'll get rubbish results.

Compare it in parallel to Merc. Ross moved on from crap cars quickly and focused on the next (theres 1 and 3) and he got in decent staff to carry it out (that's 2). Now they reap the rewards. All three need to be correctly managed?

I'm not trying to cause an argument, I just seems you contradicted your argument there.

I was expecting this last year frankly, but still I am surprised to see it happen during the ongoing season.

I've always been surprised he even got to last year. Its been the same trend lately. Start poorly, then when they get there act together its too late. (which relates to my comment above)

[xpensive]

I'm not so sure if Ferrari's problems is in any way Dom's fault, but that Montezuma had to blame someone?

[mika vs michael]

F1 teams are not like football teams. To sack the team principal is not like sacking the head coach and go on with an interim coach until you find the next one. Ferrari needed to find a team boss that has a plan and knows the F1 business. Ferrari needed a man like Ross Brawn who could choose the best and make them sing at the same tune. It may take some time but it will pay off. But until the new real TP comes SD should be in his place. Luca Di Montezemolo is the root of the problem but I think it's difficult to see him out of Ferrari. I hope at least a team principal like Ross Brawn gets the job in the near future and start implementing a plan of Ferrari resurrection to winning days.

[the EDGE]

The buck stops at the top, everyone knows that and its true. The problem is defining where exactly the top is.

As far as di Montezemolo is concerned, it's obviously just below him... But is he correct?

Luca has had plenty of time to build a team and set the direction and as team principle that's his job, pure and simple. Now whether or not di Montezemolo has allowed him to do his job is yet another question and also the answer as to where the buck should stop.

What I think is clear to me is his replacement is most deffinetly NOT the right man for the job so i suspect the buck should have stopped at di Montezemolos door and he is the one who should have gone

Not only has di Montezemolo presided over the decline of scuderia Ferrari but IMO Ferrari are no longer the leaders in the world of road-going sports car anymore either with many rivals push the bounderies of technology whilst Ferrari have choose stand still

Personally I think di Montezemolo lacks the vision required to be the President of such a great company and I don't see an end to their troubles until he steps down

[beelsebob]

Honestly, I'm amazed by the amount of impact that you guys think a manager can have. Ultimately, if the car is crap, that's down to the people designing the car. The most impact that management will have had is 1) setting budgets 2) hiring in the right people 3) setting priorities.

The only one I can really fault Stephano on is number 2 (which hey, is probably enough to hang him, but they should be setting to work on that right now).

Have you not just contradicted yourself a little?

Not really. Ultimately, the job of making a fast car still lies with the engineers, and to not admit to that undervalues the work that the great engineers that Merc and RedBull are doing. There's only so much impact that a manager can have.

For what it's worth, I feel that the bigger issue at Ferrari is the culture. At least from the outside, it looks like everyone is afraid to question the way things are, or to say that things are crap. That's what needs to be fixed.

[mika vs michael]

I think to question the way things are you need strong personalities like Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn. I know some people may be saying that we the Ferrari fans seem to look back a lot to the Schumacher years but do not forget one thing... the 2000 drivers title was the first for Ferrari after a 21 years drought (1979 Jody Scheckter). So I think the Schumacher/Todt/Brawn/Byrne days should be an example sort of...I think Alonso has some of the MS qualities and I rate him as the closest to the MS mentality. I don't know if Allison could fill the Ross Brawn shoes as Technical Director...

Anyway after the Jean Todt departure I think the most logical evolution of things should be Ross Brawn to become the Team Principal.

[bhall]

The wrong man stepped down. The fish stinks from the head as they say. Another home grown talent will follow and surely also fail. They should sack Monte IMHO.

Why should the chairman of an otherwise highly successfully company stand down because of the company's underachieving race team? Would you expect the same from Dieter Zetsche, Dietrich Mateschitz, or Carlos Ghosn?

Between FOM prize money and healthy sponsorship deals, Scuderia Ferrari doesn't cost Ferrari S.p.A. anything. And until that changes drastically, there's no reason whatsoever for the board to elect a new chairman, because turning a profit is, by nature, its highest priority.

[WhiteBlue]

Montezemolo and Todt wre the best team managers that Ferrari ever had. The problem began when Monte came back and started to interfer with Todt managing Ferrari. Todt could have done that for many more years had Monte not started to micro manage everything relevant including driver decisions. Todt would have left Ferrari perfectly tuned and with a good successor (Brawn) in place. Brawn would equally have worked out a succession in time. It was all wrecked by Monte who dictated that Kimi was to be brought in. The move killed off the dream team and was the begin of Ferrari's decline. Since then Ferrari have been living from past glory. Not even the invaluable chance to do an integrated design of power units and chassis from scratch and use road car resources was significantly exploited at Ferrari compared to the effort at Mercedes. The people Monte has planted there clearly have no clue how to fight claws and teeth for a championship. This will not change until they find a replcement for Todt and give him free reigns.

[turbof1]

Analysis of the replacement:
http://www.racer.com/latest-stories/ite ... -mattiacci
(original article from autosport)

[Racechick]

I believe Martin Whitmarsh is out of a job. He might be able to get Jenson in as well! They come as an item.
On a more serious note, I don't think Ross would go back to Ferrari. Bit of a case of been there done that. But one never knows.