FRANCE: Former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi has warned the Scuderia against trying to poach Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s chief technology officer, to fix their current issues.
Newey oversaw the development of last season’s dominant RB18 machine, and his signature would be one of the most sought-after in Formula 1.
However, Alesi warned that the time it would take to bring Newey through the door at Maranello would mean the team would only feel his impact for a while.
According to Alesi, Ferrari’s new team principal, Fred Vasseur, is the right person to help bring Ferrari forward and reach its former glory.
Alesi believes that the days of the team being able to hire high-profile designers behind the scenes, as was the case during Michael Schumacher’s dominant era, are behind them due to the clauses in all the contracts.
He said that if Ferrari acquired the services of Adrian Newey today, we wouldn’t see his car until 2025.
Ferrari has had a difficult start to the season by their high standards, failing to score any points in Australia after Carlos Sainz dropped out of the top 10 following his 5-second time penalty.
Alesi believes Scuderia Ferrari must prioritise three elements for what lies ahead: “reliability, performance, and stability.”
Despite questions over whether teams should favour one driver or not over the other and establish a clear hierarchy among the pair, Alesi thinks other issues need addressing at Maranello.
He explained that if, at a Grand Prix, Ferrari instructed Charles to be the first driver and told Carlos to be the second, it would not help develop the car, especially the lack of performance and reliability.
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