Frederic Vasseur makes decision on Ferrari F1 future of director after Haas exit

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Frederic Vasseur has decided that Simone Resta does not have a future in Formula 1 with Ferrari after leaving his position as the technical director of Haas last Thursday.

Resta returned to Maranello having only been on loan to Haas since 2021 following a similar stint for Alfa Romeo. He led the American team’s technical department as part of their long-standing relationship with Ferrari. But Resta left along with team principal Guenther Steiner.

Haas have sought new leadership having kept Steiner at the helm since the team entered F1 in 2016. Ferrari have also worked closely with Haas since 2016 but moved to strengthen the technical ties with Resta. Yet he is now back at Ferrari’s factory for the first time since 2018.

Vasseur will not add Resta back into Ferrari’s F1 leadership after leaving Haas

Resta served as Ferrari’s chief designer between 2014 and 2018 before his spell in charge of Alfa Romeo’s technical department. Now, he is back in Maranello after a three-season stint with Haas. But Vasseur does not plan on having Resta take a role with Ferrari’s F1 operation.

Instead, Gazzetta dello Sport notes that while Resta is still under contract at Ferrari, Vasseur has not integrated the Italian engineer into their Formula 1 hierarchy. So, the 53-year-old is now facing a future with another F1 team or a move over to Ferrari’s sportscar programmes.

Ferrari will have a factory FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar class team in 2024, as well as an AF Corse customer entry. AF Corse will also run two of Ferrari’s 296 GT3 cars in the LMGT3 class in 2024. Alternatively, Resta could move over to Ferrari’s road car business.

Vasseur is keeping faith in Cardile and Gualtieri as the Scuderia’s technical chiefs

Vasseur has decided that Resta will not join Ferrari’s F1 operation after leaving Haas as he is showing faith in Enrico Cardile and Enrico Gualtieri. They will be Ferrari’s technical directors in charge of their chassis and power unit areas. But only after Ferrari failed to raid Red Bull.

Ferrari had sought to snare technical director Pierre Wache and aerodynamics chief Enrico Balbo from Red Bull in 2023. But they chose to stay in Milton Keynes and Vasseur does not feel there are worthwhile alternatives to target. So, Cardile and Gualtieri will stay at Ferrari.

Vasseur still has a key role to fill at Maranello, nonetheless, as the French engineer does not have a true right-hand man who oversees Ferrari’s development during race weekends. But Resta will not take over the reins back at Ferrari’s factory following his departure from Haas.