Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, has offered a reality-check into how the F1 silly season really works.
It’s not only drivers who are coveted and could potentially change teams ahead of the 2024 F1 season.
Crucial staff members and engineers are also approached to swap teams in the hope that their expertise can add performance to next year’s car.
“When we talk about F1 people think that problems can be solved in a week,” Vasseur explained to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“But it is like sailing on a very large ship and establishing a change of course: it is not immediate.
“Today the personnel market in the GPs is like that of football players, the top 50 technicians have contracts of three years and more.
“To take them away you have to wait for [their contracts] to expire or pay hefty penalties or negotiate so that they are released ahead of time. In short, it’s complicated.
“With an aggravating circumstance for us compared to the British teams: since the teams there are close, if you hire someone he can keep the same house, the same school for his children and the same lifestyle.
“For an engineer to come here, however, we must first convince him, then his wife and the following week the children…”
Laurent Mekies is a high-profile departure from Ferrari, he has left to become AlphaTauri’s new team principal.
It is expected that he will begin his new job on January 1, 2024, after a period of gardening leave – which is fairly standard practice in the F1 paddock.
Similarly, Ferrari have recruited Mercedes’ performance director Loic Serra and hope to negotiate an early start date so he can get to work quickly.
“We have hired about 25 people, but we are looking for more,” Vasseur explained.
“None are already working at the Scuderia. We have signed a leading name [Loic Serra], which should start on 1 January 2025 but we are trying to [bring forward the time].
“How can I convince Toto Wolff to release him sooner? I’ll try when we’re on the boat together!
“However, as happened with Mekies, sometimes you have people who leave Ferrari, situations cross and you can negotiate on dates.
“Let’s say that this soon became the main part of my work at Ferrari. You have to create good relationships and convince people to move.
“The first ones you take are the most difficult, then the others seeing them follow suit.”
Keyword: F1 team boss explains how silly season really works