Tombazis and Fry to depart Ferrari as house cleaning continues (2nd Update)
Fry joined Ferrari from McLaren in mid-2010, becoming technical director (chassis) in 2011 and taking up his present position when fellow Englishman James Allison joined the team as technical director last year. Tombazis' Ferrari career dates back to 1994 and he started his present stint in 2006.
Allison retains his current role, with Italian engineers Simone Resta and Mattia Binotto reporting to him as chief designer and power unit director respectively, the latter supported by chief designer power unit Lorenzo Sassi.
Allison will also direct track engineering activities on an interim basis, while the Scuderia's Formula One activities will be managed by Massimo Rivola.
12/11/14
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| Pat Fry to tend to his garden for awhile |
(GMM) Pat Fry is the next major Ferrari name set to depart.
Amid a tumultuous time for the fabled Maranello marque, 2014 has already seen a host of major names including Stefano Domenicali, Luca Marmorini, Luca di Montezemolo, Marco Mattiacci, Fernando Alonso and Andrea Stella all leave.
Reports suggest that as Ferrari faltered so badly at the start of the new turbo V6 era, chief designer Nikolas Tombazis has become the next major scalp.
And Italian reports now suggest that, ahead of former Mercedes chief Bob Bell's apparent arrival, the highly-rated British engineer Pat Fry is also leaving.
The reports, also mentioned by Spain's El Mundo Deportivo, said that while the Greek Tombazis and former McLaren engineer Fry have not yet been officially ousted, they have been sent "on vacation".
"As this is the critical period in the development of the car for next season," the report surmised, "there is no doubt they will be made redundant".
Alongside the leader of the 2015 car project, James Allison, it means the leading technical protagonists at Ferrari in 2015 will be Bell and the newly-promoted Simone Resta.
The new team boss, meanwhile, is the former Marlboro branding executive Maurizio Arrivabene, who this week has given one of his first interviews to the Ferrari media insider Leo Turrini.
He told Turrini's Quotidiano blog: "When people ask me when things will change on the track, I reply that I do not have a magic wand.
"In 2015 it would be enough to win a couple of races — one with Vettel, one with Raikkonen.
"Seb is beginning to understand what Ferrari is. Kimi knows already and, incidentally, Kimi has the advantage of being a normal guy in a world – formula one – where many, but fortunately not Vettel, are quick to lose touch with reality," Arrivabene added.
"None of us are here to regret the past. We are all here to build the future.
"I have no doubts about our president (Sergio) Marchionne's dedication to our battle. You'll see with time the concerns of those who do not know him will vanish," he predicted.
Arrivabene also spoke more broadly about the state of today's F1, saying: "At the political level, Ferrari asks not what is right for our company, but what is right for anyone who loves the sport.
"Whoever runs the racing world has to realize there is an audience to regain. I'm not interested in speeches about Rolex, I want a formula one that is as popular as the Olympics and the World Cup.
"It once was so, and we have to go back to those levels," he insisted.
12/04/14
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| Tombazis to also go to make room for Ross Brawn and Aldo Cost as Vettel assembles a winning team around him |
(GMM) The next high-profile departure at Ferrari will be chief designer Nikolas Tombazis.
That is the claim of the well-informed Ferrari specialist and media insider Leo Turrini.
As Ferrari faltered yet again in 2014 despite the start of the all-new 'power unit' era, the red-colored exits have flowed like wine at Maranello.
Stefano Domenicali, Luca Marmorini and even Luca di Montezemolo, Fernando Alonso and Marco Mattiacci have all now gone, and rumors suggest Pat Fry has been marginalized by the promotion of the 2015 car project leader, James Allison.
Not only that, Ferrari's Greek designer Tombazis, 46, also looks set to depart.
Writing on his reliable Quotidiano blog, Turrini said the end of Tombazis' "Ferrari experience" is now sealed with the exception of "formalities and technicalities".
Notwithstanding the period of turmoil at Maranello, however, continuing Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen is confident about the future.
Backing the arrival of new teammate and friend Sebastian Vettel, and new boss Maurizio Arrivabene, the Finn said: "It's not easy to change things.
"But we have a clear plan of where we need to improve," Raikkonen is quoted by Speed Week.
"I feel that the things that have been changed within the team will bring a very, very big improvement."