It will be interesting to see how these vastly experienced motorsport managers fit into their new teams in 2023.
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Even though all of the driver positions on the Formula 1 grid for the upcoming season have been confirmed, the Team Principals are currently engaged in another silly season. It will be interesting to see how these vastly experienced motorsport managers fit into their new teams in 2023. Here is a summary of all the major moves made during the last week in the management of F1 teams.
The news that Mattia Binotto would leave his positions as managing director of the Gestione Sportiva and team principal of Ferrari caught everyone off guard the most. Binotto left Ferrari after John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna became dissatisfied with his failure to spearhead a persistent championship push in 2022. Frederic Vasseur, who announced his departure from Alfa Romeo after six seasons in charge as Team Principal and CEO, will take his place. On January 9th, 2023, Vasseur will start working as Team Principal and General Manager. Since he began his F1 career with Red Bull in 2005, Ferrari has had six Team Principals, as noted by Christian Horner.
The appointment of Andreas Seidl as CEO of Sauber was the next move in the fiasco. In a decision that was probably influenced by Audi’s recent strategic buy-in of the team before their entry to 2026, the German leaves McLaren as their Team Principal. Seidl has prior experience managing a Volkswagen Group motorsport programme. From 2015 to 2017, he served as Team Principal for Porsche’s LMP1 effort, which won three consecutive Le Mans 24 Hours. It’s important to remember that Seidl will only assume the role of CEO for the time being; the team will announce its Team Principal in due course.
Andrea Stella, who moved to McLaren from Ferrari with Fernando Alonso in 2015, will take over for Seidl at the team. Stella initially joined as the head of operations. In 2018, she was appointed performance director, and most recently, in 2019, she was appointed executive director. Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, and Fernando Alonso are just a few of the champions that the Italian has engineered throughout his career, which he began with Ferrari in 2000.
Jost Capito will step down as team principal of Williams with immediate effect after only two years in the position. Although the team hasn’t yet named a replacement for Capito, his departure marks the end of a period of unrest for the group, which was frequently coming in last before being taken over by Dorilton Capital. FX Demaison, the team’s technical director since 2021, and David Wheater, the aerodynamics director since 2009, also depart with Capito.
