Last Tuesday was a wild day in the Formula 1 transfer market. There was news about three new team bosses in one day, which is very rare.
The game was opened by Ferrari, who told Valtteri Bottas of the former team manager by Frederic Vasseur replacement Mattia Binotto As Ferrari team manager. This started a fierce game of chairs.
Alfa Romeo, which lost Vasseur, is still looking for a new team manager, but informed the respected Andreas Seidlin to the managing director of the moving team. Alfa Romeo is also in the grip of changes, as the team will change to Audi in a few years.
Seidl was McLaren’s team manager for the previous four seasons and raised the profile of the traditional British team. McLaren responded immediately and told the Italian Andrea Stellan the washing machine left by the inheritor Seidl.
Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh says that the transfer rumba in question indicates that management methods are in a series of changes.
– Formula 1 is in transition with the budget ceiling. This can be one factor in what kind of leaders are needed, Mildh sees.
McLaren has a fundamental problem
Vasseur has been the team manager of the Swiss team currently known as Alfa Romeo since 2017. He was Kimi Raikkonen boss in 2019–2021 and Valtteri Bottas in 2022.
Vasseur’s Ferrari wash was well-anticipated, as the flamboyant and relaxed French boss had been rumored to join the Italian team for a long time. Instead, Seidl’s departure from McLaren is considered a big surprise. The 46-year-old German had a contract until 2025.
McLaren is one of the most successful Formula One teams of all time. Mika Hakkinen won two World Championship titles in the team in 1998 and 1999.
The stable’s most recent drivers’ world championship is from 2008.
Former successful team member in 2015–2018. Under Seidl’s leadership, McLaren restored its credibility and momentarily emerged as a contender for the top teams.
In the 2021 season, McLaren achieved its first victory in nine years. The team has also found a new qualified number one driver in the youngster About Lando Norriswhich has the ingredients to become a future world champion.
This season, however, McLaren took a back seat again with the new rules. Having driven for McLaren in 2008 and 2009 Heikki Kovalainen in my opinion, Seidl’s departure reflects that the brand is not fully focused on its F1 project. In addition to Formula 1, McLaren is also involved in Formula E and Indy Car.
– Andreas Seidl has been one of the key people. American Zak Brown has been good on the commercial side, but on the technical side, Seidl has sort of been the core of the team. His decision to leave signals that there is a fundamental problem in the McLaren organization.
Throwback to Lando Norris
In Kovalainen’s opinion, McLaren is involved in too many motorsport series. Ron Dennis successfully led McLaren from the 1980s into this millennium.
– I think they should focus only on the F1 project. From my own time, I remember how Ron Dennis said in the first meetings that the F1 team is at the center of everything. When the F1 team works, so do other businesses. I think right now it’s on its head.
Sky Sports (you switch to another service) expert Martin Brundle sees Seidl’s departure as a setback for Norris. The British driver has a contract with McLaren until 2025.
Alfa Romeo will leave Formula One after next season. The team has been run by Sauber, who signed a cooperation agreement with car giant Audi in the fall.
Audi bought a part of Sauber and will operate as an F1 team from 2026. Audi also brings its own engines to formula one.
Seidl was interested in running a new long-term project. He knows the German car industry very well.
– Lando looks and wonders why Andreas has left the ship. What has Andreas seen in Audi that makes him prefer it to McLaren, Brundle pondered on Sky Sports’ website.
Kovalainen is on the same lines.
– Norris is one of the top drivers. However, among the top drivers, he is in the worst team with the longest contract. It can be interpreted as a threat, says Kovalainen.
How is Bottas doing?
The transfer of the Frenchman Vasseur to Ferrari evokes echoes of history. His countrymen Jean Todt once worked successfully as a team boss for an Italian team. During Todt’s tenure, Ferrari achieved six drivers’ world championships.
– He forbade wine at lunch and told the mechanics to shave their beards, Mildh recalls Todt’s arrival at Ferrari.
There is hardly any need for equally radical measures now. However, Ferrari needs a new leader who knows how to hold all the strings in his hands. The Italian team has been difficult to manage since Todt.
Vasseur has come to be known in the pits as a lanky man. According to Mildh, however, the Frenchman has the necessary authority and charisma for the job.
– His records in running his own team, ever since the Formula 3 series, are amazing. Yes, there is some ruggedness there too. I hope he is given enough time.
Bottas, who drives Alfa Romeo, has a very good relationship with Vasseur. How will the change affect Bottas?
– That’s a good question. Bottas has won the Formula Three championship with Vasseur, and they have a long history together. For Bottas, the culture is changing a lot. He needs to get to know the new boss (Seidl) well.