Ferrari team bosses have been fired time and time again, mostly for lack of success, or they have left of their own free will. What became of the ten predecessors of the new Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur?
So now it’s up to Fred Vasseur to judge. Ferrari brings the previous Alfa Romeo team boss to Maranello as successor to Mattia Binotto. If we look at the history of the most famous Formula 1 racing team in the world, then many team bosses have had to vacate their desks early, usually due to a lack of success.
We wanted to know what happened to Vasseur’s ten predecessors at Ferrari. What came after the commitment as head of the Ferrari racing team? Here are the answers.
Roberto Nosetto (Teamchef 1977)
Under Nosetto, Ferrari won the Drivers’ World Championship and the Constructors’ Cup with Niki Lauda in 1977, but the people from Turin and Vienna didn’t get along. Nosetto remained at Ferrari after being replaced by Marco Piccinini, as an advisor to company founder Enzo Ferrari and as head of the Fiorano test track. He later became director of the Imola circuit and race director in MotoGP and Superbike sport. He died in 2013. In 2020, Renata Nosetto published a book about her husband’s career that received much acclaim in Italy.
Marco Piccinini (1978–1988)
The Roman remained connected to Ferrari after his time as team boss as a member of the board, became FIA Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs of Monaco.
Cesare Fiorio (1989–1991)
The Turin native was brought to Ferrari as F1 team boss after fabulous successes with Lancia and Fiat. A time of missed opportunities and intrigues followed. In 1990, star driver Alain Prost was defeated by his rival Ayrton Senna (McLaren) by a narrow margin. In 1991 Fiorio resigned, he later became team boss of the Ligier racing team and race director at Minardi (today AlphaTauri). He also worked for years as a Formula 1 expert at the state RAI.
Claudio Lombardi (1991)
The mechanical engineer from Alessandria was an emergency solution after the separation from Fiorio. From 1992 he concentrated again entirely on his work as an engine designer. In 1994 he moved to Ferrari’s GT department. From 2000 to 2010 he was technical advisor to Aprilia.
Sante Ghedini (1992/1993)
Ghedini became friends with Niki Lauda while working in Ferrari’s public relations department alongside legendary press officer Franco Gozzi. When he went to Brabham, Sante moved away from Maranello with the Austrian. Luca Montezemolo brought him back to Ferrari in 1991, with zero success – during his tenure as team boss, Ferrari never won a single race under Ghedini. He was replaced by Jean Todt. Sante Ghedini then became director of the Mugello circuit, owned by Ferrari since 1988.
Jean Todt (1993–2007)
The Frenchman joined Ferrari as a successful rally team boss from Peugeot and whipped the Italian squad into shape. The era of success with Michael Schumacher, with five drivers’ world championship titles in a row (2000-2004) and six victories in the Constructors’ Cup in a row (1999-2004) can only be compared with the Mercedes dominance at the beginning of the turbo hybrid era from 2014 onwards . After his time at Ferrari, Todt headed the FIA World Automobile Association from 2009 to 2021, and has been the special ambassador of the United Nations since 2015.
Stefano Domenicali (2007–2014)
The 57-year-old from Imola stumbled over Fernando Alonso’s missed world title. In April 2014 it was over. He then worked as an Audi consultant, headed the FIA’s single-seater commission, became managing director of Lamborghini and took over the post of Formula 1 CEO from the American Chase Carey in January 2021.
Marco Mattiacci (2014)
The Roman came into Formula 1 as Domenicali’s successor with great success as head of Ferrari North America. Ferrari didn’t get any better under him, he was replaced after just six months. Mattiacci then worked for the electric vehicle manufacturer Faraday, and in 2022 he became brand boss of Aston Martin.
Maurizio Arrivabene (2014–2018)
Just as Domenicali missed out on winning the title with Fernando Alonso, the Brescia-born Arrivabene failed to do so with another world champion, Sebastian Vettel. That cost him his job. The marketing specialist, who joined Ferrari from Philip Morris International, became Managing Director of the football club Juventus FC after Ferrari, and he is also a member of the Mille Miglia board.
Mattia Binotto (2019–2022)
It is still unclear what will become of the Lausanne-born technician.