Paddy Lowe to Ferrari rumour!
Discussion
Jasandjules said:
That would be interesting. I wonder why he would want to.
I would have thought there's an allure to Ferrari that you don't get even with a big team like Mercedes. If you can return and be another of the saviors who turn up every few years to deliver a championship, you're almost guaranteed permanent god status in Italy. Doing the same for a corporate beast might be a bit more of a pat on the back and fatter paycheck.If I were in F1, I could imagine the emotional difference in working for Ferrari as against some of the other teams.
janesmith1950 said:
I would have thought there's an allure to Ferrari that you don't get even with a big team like Mercedes. If you can return and be another of the saviors who turn up every few years to deliver a championship, you're almost guaranteed permanent god status in Italy. Doing the same for a corporate beast might be a bit more of a pat on the back and fatter paycheck.
If I were in F1, I could imagine the emotional difference in working for Ferrari as against some of the other teams.
Other teams to earn your stripes and your pension, Ferrari for the glory of the job on the CV.If I were in F1, I could imagine the emotional difference in working for Ferrari as against some of the other teams.
Jasandjules said:
I must confess from what I have heard about working in Ferrari F1, the prestige is simply not worth it!
It just doesn't jibe with Paddy's character. McLaren couldn't offer him what he wanted, Mercedes did. He isn't a guy with a big ego but he does need to feel appreciated and it's obvious that Toto knows that.Jasandjules said:
Obviously you know him, but my "take" on his personality from TV, he would not be a "Ferrari" type of person....
No I don't know him, have met him a few times and found him a very nice chap, but know family members of his quite well. He's a very family oriented guy and like James Allison the distance to family being based in Italy would be an issue. Plus he has the perfect role at Mercedes where he is very happy and earns very well. Why risk that for the pressure cooker of Ferrari?If I recall correctly this one has been suggested for a while.
The reasoning I've read is that his wife wants to live there for a bit. Its probably just made up rubbish though.
The biggest thing that doesn't make sense to me is that Sergio has said they aren't going to hire a TD to replace Allison but made Binotto CTO. Brawn didn't want to share control and I suspect Lowe wouldn't either. Binotto is a long time Ferrari man on the engine side, so to take on Lowe and give him control they'd have to let Binotto go. We should also remember that Ferrari have always managed to cripple their leaders with micro management from above - I'm sure Lowe is clever enough to see that.
The timing is bad too - too late to do anything for the 2017 car, by 2018 we'll be in a refining stage, much less of a challenge than a new set of regulations.
I've also read that Merc have all their senior guys under long term contracts.
The reasoning I've read is that his wife wants to live there for a bit. Its probably just made up rubbish though.
The biggest thing that doesn't make sense to me is that Sergio has said they aren't going to hire a TD to replace Allison but made Binotto CTO. Brawn didn't want to share control and I suspect Lowe wouldn't either. Binotto is a long time Ferrari man on the engine side, so to take on Lowe and give him control they'd have to let Binotto go. We should also remember that Ferrari have always managed to cripple their leaders with micro management from above - I'm sure Lowe is clever enough to see that.
The timing is bad too - too late to do anything for the 2017 car, by 2018 we'll be in a refining stage, much less of a challenge than a new set of regulations.
I've also read that Merc have all their senior guys under long term contracts.
I can't see this being anything other than a rumour at the moment. I'm sure every team has enquired about the terms of his contract, but I don't see that he would thrive at Ferrari under their present management structure. Until Mercedes pull out, or unless they make a complete hash of the regulation change which would put the team on the back foot for a few years playing catch up, I'm sure he's happy where he is.
janesmith1950 said:
I would have thought there's an allure to Ferrari that you don't get even with a big team like Mercedes. If you can return and be another of the saviors who turn up every few years to deliver a championship, you're almost guaranteed permanent god status in Italy. Doing the same for a corporate beast might be a bit more of a pat on the back and fatter paycheck.
If I were in F1, I could imagine the emotional difference in working for Ferrari as against some of the other teams.
Or more likely, do some of your hardest work only to have the suits in turin sabotage it and then heap the blame on you... If I were in F1, I could imagine the emotional difference in working for Ferrari as against some of the other teams.
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