Source: REUTERS/MARK PETERSON
[Saba Sports News] Mercedes has successfully recruited
two high-ranking staff from Ferrari. One of them is Simone Resta, the former
chief designer at Ferrari and the technical director of the Haas team in the
previous season. Upon joining Mercedes, Resta has been appointed as the
director of strategic development and will work closely with the technical
director, James Allison, on various racing-related projects. Resta was
responsible for designing the SF70h and SF71h cars that Ferrari competed with
over the course of two years. The other individual is Enrico Sampo, the
director of Ferrari simulators. Upon joining Mercedes, Sampo will head the
department of performance software applications. However, due to the
“gardening leave” clause in their contracts with Ferrari, they will
have to wait until at least 2025 before officially joining the Mercedes team.
Some fans have noted that after the conclusion of the 2020 F1 championship
season, Ferrari underwent restructuring in its financial budget and technical
department, leading to Resta being loaned to the Haas team. In January 2024,
Resta’s loan period from Ferrari to Haas expired. He returned to Ferrari but
was assigned to the GT department instead of the F1 team. Dissatisfied with
this decision, Resta opted to join the Mercedes team.