James Allison leaves Ferrari

[BSchneiderFan]

Now confirmed: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/125471/technical-chief-allison-parts-with-ferrari

Not a huge surprise, given his family circumstances. Wonder if he will go back to Enstone?

[Armco Bender]

Cue music....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWqKPWO5T4o

[chunterer]

Internal promotion instead!

[chillibowl]

so lots of stories about the reasons why he left and rumours of greater turmoil within Ferrari...adding to that pot, Ross Brawn may be on his way to the German GP.

doesnt specify if he will be a guest of Merc or Ferrari though.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns34487.html

[wolfhound]

Or what about FOM

[BSchneiderFan]

There's a lot of 'claiming' in that article. I don't believe for a moment that Brawn is returning to front-line motorsport, though nostalgia is a disease which seems to affect posters on this forum (and I don't spare myself in that) rather more than the general population. The one thing I can well believe is that Allison's replacement is a temporary one, allowing Ferrari breathing space to find a longer-term, perhaps big-name replacement. But everything else seems to be speculation.

[chillibowl]

haha, yes...lots of 'claiming' going on in that article.

but nostalgia is a thing...for all we know Brawn (if he is even going) is just going to a race because he has fond memories of the place and the sport.

[F1Pete]

Brawn spotted in Hockenheim.

[F1Pete]

....to attend a Michael Schumacher foundation event.

[chillibowl]

Yelling at back markers and not a lot of confidence coming from the pit wall.

There are more deeper issues within the team going on.

[GT6]

Well today was not going to help, they have fallen behind Red Bull on the track and radio comments seem to indicate some friction IMHO

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by GT6

Well today was not going to help, they have fallen behind Red Bull on the track and radio comments seem to indicate some friction IMHO

Might be lack of full belief in each other rather than friction but they certainly didn't sound like a team based on those radio messages.

Ferrari certainly aren't the team that they were at the moment and need some work to sort themselves out.

[Moneyseeker]

Ferrari would be as well buying Force India and consuming the ingredients into Ferrari, whilst allowing them to keep the UK facility. The points achieved per dollar spent at FI must make them the most efficient team in F1.

[Mixer]

I really thought James Allison had bought some sort of resurgence to the team, but seems not.

So, Enstone or McLaren then? Will Ferrari enforce gardening leave?

[chillibowl]

Arrivabene hinting at adopting a Mclaren style team structure:

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/...le-restructure

thinking back i question how successful the approach (often described as design by committee) has been for Mclaren on track.

although given that they are not relying on an outside engine supplier perhaps makes the idea more favourable for Ferrari?

also curious to know if it extends to the corporate side restructuring as Ferrari look for a new operational model post IPO.

[F1Guy]

An article today from Andrew Benson on BBC Sport, and in there is a chapter asking the question 'Is this really James Allison's car?' regarding the 2017 Ferrari SF70H.

I think the paragraph quoted below suggests that it is Allison's baby.

The teams knew the fundamentals of the 2017 rules as long ago as the summer of 2015 but the regulations were not finally signed off until early March 2016. At the very least, the fundamental concept of this year's Ferrari - its wheelbase, dimensions, basic aerodynamic philosophy and so on - was done on Allison's watch.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/39647299