Ferrari has restructured its chassis department ahead of the 2021 Formula 1 season under the leadership of Enrico Cardile, with the new set-up replacing the performance development division that was created last year.
The chassis department is one of the four key parts of Scuderia Ferrari contributing to the car, with Cardile reporting directly to team principal Mattia Binotto on the chassis side. The other department heads are Enrico Gualtier (power unit), Laurent Mekies (Racing) and Gianmaria Fulgenzi (supply chain).
A Ferrari statement says that the chassis department re-organisation has been implemented “with the aim of being more effective and efficient in the pursuit of maximum performance”.
The performance development division that has been superceded was also headed by Cardile.
Ferrari refers to four main areas that comprise the chassis department. David Sanchez is in charge of the vehicle concept, Cardile – of chassis performance engineering, Fabio Montecchi – of chassis project engineering, and Diego Ioverno – of vehicle operations.
As part of these changes, the race track engineering activity is now part of the chassis performance engineering area led by Cardile.
Simone Resta was the Ferrari head of chassis area prior to leaving on what is effectively a ‘loan’ deal to join Haas as technical director.
Speaking at the end of last year, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto confirmed that the team had no intention to recruit a technical director, with Cardile effectively taking up Resta’s position.
“There will not be a technical director, so with Simone Resta moving out of organisation, his responsibility will be covered by Enrico Cardile, who today is responsible for the full chassis area,” said Binotto in December.
“We do not have a technical director which is covering all t of the technical departments we’ve got in Ferrari, like for example the power unit or the supply chain. But Enrico Cardile will cover the previous responsibility of Simone Resta.”
The restructuring is part of Ferrari’s ongoing attempts to solve what Ferrari chairman John Elkann last year referred to as “the structural weaknesses of the machine with which we have been living for a decade”.
The team has also confirmed that the Scuderia Ferrari Commercial, Marketing and Events department is now part of the Brand Diversification Area, led by Nicola Boari.
