Ferrari: Fred Vasseur’s (rejected) offer to Gianpiero Lambiase to become Lewis Hamilton’s engineer. One of Max Verstappen's trusted men was also in Ferrari’s plans.

The future of Ferrari

As had been in the air for some time, despite the usual denials, Ferrari has decided to entrust the technical direction of the chassis to Loic Serra, a French engineer coming from Mercedes. The new organizational structure at Maranello places Loic Serra in charge of the work of Fabio Montecchi (chassis engineering), Diego Tondi (aerodynamics), Matteo Togninalli (track engineers), and Diego Ioverno (chassis operations). Enrico Gualtieri has been confirmed as the technical director for the power unit. Both Serra and Gualtieri will report directly to Frederic Vasseur, team principal and general manager of Scuderia Ferrari.

Another significant missed arrival

In addition to the long negotiation with Adrian Newey that never materialized, probably never so close to Maranello in his entire career, another Red Bull figure has emerged in recent hours, who was targeted by Ferrari to strengthen their ranks. According to Italian daily newspaper Corriere dello Sport, in an article by Fulvio Solms, Frederic Vasseur reportedly made an offer to Gianpiero Lambiase during the summer. Lambiase holds the dual role of head of race engineers and race engineer for Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

Fred Vasseur’s idea was to form a Gianpiero Lambiase – Lewis Hamilton partnership starting in 2025. However, the Italo-British engineer reportedly declined the offer. Recent statements by Helmut Marko, who has repeatedly emphasized the firm intention to retain key team members at all costs, could be read in this light as well. Riccardo Adami (inherited from Carlos Sainz) will thus take on the role of race engineer for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari.

Who is Gianpiero Lambiase

In Formula 1 since 2005, the 44-year-old Gianpiero Lambiase, who holds dual Italian and British citizenship, began his career with Jordan before joining Red Bull ten years later. He has served as race engineer for several drivers, including Giancarlo Fisichella, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Paul di Resta, Sergio Perez, Daniil Kvyat, and finally Max Verstappen. His team radio exchanges with the Dutch champion are famous, as the two have a very straightforward and direct relationship. Many will recall their exchange in Budapest, which left no lingering issues in their strong working relationship.