Official: Double brain drain from Mercedes to Ferrari with Hamilton

SA Toto Wolff it is wet with rain. A few days ago, at the Miami GP, the The Team Principal of Mercedes did not hesitate to know the wound of the tense internal situation that Christian Horner is experiencing with Red Bull picking up the gauntlet that was thrown down Zak Brown by making sure he received multiple resumes from engineers from red bullputting fear into its British enemy because of the possible brain drain from red bull to other teams after the announced departure of Adrian Newey.

Horner quickly responded by reminding him that in recent years they had hired 220 Mercedes engineers. And Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff has previously said Wolff should focus on improving his team’s poor results rather than looking after his garden. And a few days later, Ferrari made official something that was an open secret, the signing of the former Mercedes performance boss, Loic Serra, and another important name: Jerome d’Ambrosio, responsible for the development of young talent in the star team.

Both will reach Ferrari next October 1 after the completion of the ‘gardening’ period, a period in which engineers and team workers have to wait to start working on a new set to avoid taking important information from their previous projects into their new equipment.

Loic Serra, Head of Chassis Performance Engineering

Without a doubt, the most famous movement is that of Loic Serra. Apparently, when Lewis Hamilton agreed to sign for Ferrari, the Italian team had already assured him that Loic Serra would join the Maranello team and this could be a very important element in convincing the Englishman.

“Loic Serra takes on the role of Head of Chassis Performance Engineering, reporting to Enrico Cardile, who oversees several areas at Maranello, including Track Engineering, Aero Development, Aero Operations and Vehicle Performance”announced the Italian team in a statement.

According to paddock rumours, Serra is one of the few within the Brackley group pitting Lewis Hamilton against the dangerous and failed almost pontoon car design Mercedes chose at the start of the new 2022 regulations, a design that Hamilton criticized from the beginning and which he unsuccessfully demanded be discarded. Both are against the path the team took regarding the creation of W13 and W14.

Vasseur’s new right hand

For his part, Jerome d’Ambrosio was director of the Venturi team in Formula E until he arrived at Mercedes at the beginning of last year as responsible for the development of young talents, in addition to working closely with Toto Wolff.

“Jerome d’Ambrosio joined as Deputy Team Director, under the direct command of Fred Vasseur. D’Ambrosio has also been appointed Director of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, the young driver program of the Maranello brand,” added a statement from the transalpine team.