Inside Ferrari, alarm bells are ringing as whispers of a staff exodus to Alpha Tauri grow louder, with Laurent Mekies at the center of the storm. Recently re-poached by Alpha Tauri to take over from the retiring Franz Tost in 2024, Mekies, a former key figure at Ferrari, is now seen as the architect of a talent drain from the Maranello squad to the Faenza-based team.
Corriere dello Sport reports the latest to make the switch is Marco Matassa, a significant figure in Ferrari’s talent development. “The FDA academy has passed into the hands of Jock Clear ad interim, and now we anticipate the destination of the long-haired engineer (Matassa) to be Alpha Tauri,” stated Fulvio Solms, the newspaper’s correspondent. The concern is palpable: “Now we really need the Scuderia to react.”
React they will, assures Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur. He’s quoted confirming an infusion of fresh talent: “Eighty people will arrive,” half of whom are replacements, the other half reinforcements for the Scuderia. However, Vasseur remains tight-lipped about the identities of these new arrivals, including Loic Serra from Mercedes, whose transition is delayed until year’s end due to gardening leave. “I won’t mention names,” Vasseur maintains, preferring discretion over disclosure.
Despite these unsettling staff movements, Solms hints at positive murmurs from Maranello, including rumors of a substantial 7 tenths performance boost over the previous year. Amidst these swirling developments, Corriere della Sera notes that Vassuer is planning a more subdued car launch for Ferrari’s 2024 contender on February 13, a move that might reflect the team’s focus on substance over spectacle in this period of transition.
