Ferrari tease new rival staff signing as they battle recruitment frustrations
Ferrari have teased a signing from an F1 rival while also lamenting the difficulties of recruitment in the cost cap era.
The comings and goings at Ferrari have been decidedly one way of late with Laurent Mekies becoming the latest name to head out the Maranello exit door.
But Fred Vasseur has reassured Ferrari fans that work has been going on behind-the-scenes and that an announcement will be made “soon.”
Ferrari say rival staff announcement coming ‘soon’
When Mekies’ move to AlphaTauri as Franz Tost’s successor was confirmed, it was an easy process for Ferrari and Vasseur to find his replacement.
Ferrari opted to promote from within, Diego Ioverno stepping up to take over the sporting director duties, but it is not just from within that the Italian team have recruited, with Vasseur revealing that an announcement of a staff hiring from another constructor will be made “soon.”
“We have already had the discussion, it’s a very long process,” Vasseur told media including PlanetF1.com of their recruitment drive. “The consequence of this is that the people will join sometimes in a couple of months.
“But we have people starting in the company on the 1st of January ’24 and some others in July ’24. Some will start beginning of ’25.
“It’s a very long term process and it’s a bit frustrating also because you have the feeling that you are working for two or three years from today.
“But if you don’t start to do it, you will never get it. That means that we have to push on it and I think we made a good step forward.
“We have had good recruitment but I will never give you a name before we finalise everything including the deal with the current team of the guys.
“It’s important to keep it confidential and to work in a good mood and in a good approach and I don’t want to jeopardise that, but soon you will have some announcement.”
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Vasseur also said the cost cap has an impact on the level of recruitment with only the drivers and the team’s three highest paid personnel exempt.
“It is like it is that we are all on the same type of contract,” the French boss said. “We know that we have a lot of inertia on the recruitment and also that you have the cost cap.
“It means that you can’t recruit only based on the salary and that will increase the salary and so because with the cost cap, it will be a nightmare.
“That means that we need to be efficient with the requirement to choose the right people to take time to understand where we are weak, where we have to improve and to pick the good ones with a good project because the main topic is to build up the right project with the people that you are recruiting.”
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