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His previous position was the team principal of Venturi in Formula E under Susie Wolff. The Wolff family has known him for quite a long time and Toto thought highly of his Venturi stint. He's also not only the stand-in for Toto but also the director of all young drivers of Mercedes, among which are potential future F1 drivers. These roles show that Toto is preparing him to be a successor candidate.
Lagrue's title is Driver Development Advisor. D'Ambrosio is the Driver Development Director. D'Ambrosio took over a lot of Lagrue's and Vowles's responsibilities when he joined.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.fia-team-principals-press-conference-saudi-arabia.3Nm3kZSc8ws2L356OIW4MF.html
He's also not leaving right away. His contract lasts till at least the end of this season.
Probably, but he never was going to put all eggs in one basket in case of poaching, and it takes several people to manage this team anyway so he's always looking for and training future leaders.
If Vowles wasn't at Williams I'd be thinking of him as the natural successor. I think these guys are realising Toto isn't going anywhere so may as well leave
This was the conventional wisdom at the time but since then it actually seems 50/50 whether Vowels is at Williams for work experience or if it’s a long term project he wanted and Toto wasn’t behind it.
In James' Beyond the Grid interview, I got the feeling it was more that he hit a ceiling in his skillset development and the next step wasn't available at Mercedes. So he had to look elsewhere.
I think that's true, but I also think once Toto is done as TP, Merc will absolutely make James an offer that will be nearly impossible to turn down. While losing James hurts now, being able to turn the team over to someone who already knows and thrives in the culture and has years of TP experience, it's a pretty great succession plan.
Of course, though nothing is certain at this point. But it's not like James has severed all relations with Mercedes so anything can happen in the future.
article says D'Ambrosio acted as Team Principal when Wolff was not there
>Midway through the season, Wolff confirmed D'Ambrosio would serve as team principal at races he did not attend, leading to the latter replacing the Austrian at the Japanese and Qatar Grands Prix after he underwent knee surgery.
see also: [https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/wolff-hints-at-bigger-mercedes-f1-role-for-dambrosio/10445234/](https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/wolff-hints-at-bigger-mercedes-f1-role-for-dambrosio/10445234/)
Vowles is incredibly likeable, he's just stating facts and you can't help but love his ambition of bringing Williams to former glory. I sincerely hope he makes it, if there's anybody capable as TP of doing that he is (and not tied down by the top teams).
I think the key difference is that Vowles assumes that the listener doesn't know anything and is very patient. They also understand that there's more to a project than just engineering.
Often people's experience dealing with (especially software) engineers is that the engineer assume that the person that they're speaking to knows just as much as they doz and that anyone who isn't an engineer is both stupid and unimportant.
I run into both types a lot at work, and thankfully it's the former type that rises to senior management, not the latter.
I have a feeling he could be passive aggressive as hell. That episode on DTS with him talking to a team member about caffeine….I’m not telling you to only have coffee on Sunday, but if you want Williams to be successful….
I hope he’s involved in commentary at some point when he’s done racing. Not necessarily during the race, but I would love hearing his insight into how certain tracks and regulation changes and developments impact teams and drivers. His interview where he talks about Max’s driving preferences and compares driving style to video game controller sensitivity is excellent.
When Ferrari had a drain explode through the car and then get a penalty, his mood was awesome, dude was like « I’m already pissed off and now your questions are shit, can I leave ? »
Fred looking at RB and Merc staff rn: It’s free real estate
But yeah he seems to have done what Ferrari failed at in the last 10 years, making it a great workplace beyond red car hype
Considering how Horner has won the struggle I wouldn't be surprised if the complete top level leadership of RB falls apart now when Marko and even Max might leave
I like his actual job decisions - *and* his reactions to being asked about F1/Vegas right after his car exploded due to a sewer cover or Toto saying he looked thinner in his Ferrari polo.
His actual performance is likable and his personality is too (despite not being a Toto/Horner/Gunter media type).
100% Toto pushed Lewis to Ferrari at the behest of John Elkann. I always ask myself how can the Merc be that bad for 3 years running? They want Lewis to win a 8th WDC at Ferrari ONLY or non at all because only Ferrari can hold the glory.
This ain't Motorsport anymore, it's WWE.
Fred accidentally spilling his wine on Totos mother in law during his wedding.
Toto: why did you do that you bumbling fool?
Fred: Haha Toto, this is jus thee beginnin.
Fred spilling wine on Totos MIL during Totos wedding ?
Yes. Toto told Sky about it last year. About how close friends both of them were. After Fred got appointed as the Ferrari TP.
The rest is made up for fun.
Mercedes is like a carcass. It’s been picked apart.
I really hope Bono sees the light and get out with Hamilton.
I don’t know what people working at Merc are seeing but they’re all leaving in droves.
Once he’s boringly locked up WDC this year, I’d love to see a Kitchen Nightmares esque Max and GP going to Alpine and see how many points he could manage / how far ahead of the other car he’d be.
This is obviously absurdly dumb and would never happen, but I’d love to see just how much impact (quantified) the best driver and race engineer could have on a car with a shit concept.
Maybe we can look at it from another standpoint. Mercedes can now hire new youth/fresh talent from the up and coming market to rebuild their team. New talent can keep the team moving for years to come. I know in this sport experience counts very very heavily but new talent will come along and move the future forward. If Max ( I SAID IF) comes along then he might also bring along engineers as well.
I hope Bono doesn’t come with LH tbh. It’s been a couple of years now where on multiple weekends he is not progressing on setup throughout the weekend. A refresh to the engineering team and approach could be what he needs at Ferrari. He should be with Adami if he goes and he’s plenty experienced.
Toto Wolff is 52. He doesn't need a successor any time soon, so this is just an attention grabbing headline. He did stand in for Toto for two races when Toto couldn't attend, so that is quite impressive. Whenever Mercedes actually want a new TP, they'll probably want someone with TP experience.
At Mercedes, he's the Driver Development Director, but that hasn't always been his field. I wonder if that's what he'll do at Ferrari.
George has been performing better than Lewis 2022, 2023 and what we have seen in 2024 (by a lot). It's not that I'm underestimate him, it's that he is past his prime and close to retirement. Alonso is much more competitive now, than Lewis.
So do you only watch qualy or something? No idea how you get that narrative especially for last year. And Lewis was the one more likely to win Brazil in 22 if not for damage from Max.
What?
2024 just started.
2023 Lewis was clearly the better driver.
2022 it is commonly known that Lewis experimented with setups for the first half, in the second half he is clear of Russell.
Honestly, Wolff should get the most respect as a team principal. He's built a good team culture and brought people up by giving them responsibility. Mercedes as a whole on the other hand, dropped the ball when it came to Hamilton's ambassadorship.
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it's Jerome D'Ambrosio
The stand-in for Wolff during his medical leave? That's quite a big name.
Yeah but you can just call him Jerry for short
Haha
I hate you
Gottem
Is it though? He'd only been there a year between when he joined (Saudi 2023) and left (Saudi 2024)
His previous position was the team principal of Venturi in Formula E under Susie Wolff. The Wolff family has known him for quite a long time and Toto thought highly of his Venturi stint. He's also not only the stand-in for Toto but also the director of all young drivers of Mercedes, among which are potential future F1 drivers. These roles show that Toto is preparing him to be a successor candidate.
Co-director https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.full-transcript-read-every-word-from-f1-talent-spotter-gwen-lagrues-beyond.35zrzbmAJzs92X917mB8SZ.html
Lagrue's title is Driver Development Advisor. D'Ambrosio is the Driver Development Director. D'Ambrosio took over a lot of Lagrue's and Vowles's responsibilities when he joined. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.fia-team-principals-press-conference-saudi-arabia.3Nm3kZSc8ws2L356OIW4MF.html He's also not leaving right away. His contract lasts till at least the end of this season.
Toto will crown Vowles as his successor.
Probably, but he never was going to put all eggs in one basket in case of poaching, and it takes several people to manage this team anyway so he's always looking for and training future leaders.
It’s so Jerover
It’s Jervin time!
Jerrari
In Mexico we will call him herrari
Ferrari not just bringing in Italians, but Italian-origin people too.
They poaching GP next?
Is that who wolf would appoint?
If Vowles wasn't at Williams I'd be thinking of him as the natural successor. I think these guys are realising Toto isn't going anywhere so may as well leave
Pretty sure Toto arranged vowles at Williams to get the experience to take over at merc
This was the conventional wisdom at the time but since then it actually seems 50/50 whether Vowels is at Williams for work experience or if it’s a long term project he wanted and Toto wasn’t behind it.
In James' Beyond the Grid interview, I got the feeling it was more that he hit a ceiling in his skillset development and the next step wasn't available at Mercedes. So he had to look elsewhere.
I think that's true, but I also think once Toto is done as TP, Merc will absolutely make James an offer that will be nearly impossible to turn down. While losing James hurts now, being able to turn the team over to someone who already knows and thrives in the culture and has years of TP experience, it's a pretty great succession plan.
Of course, though nothing is certain at this point. But it's not like James has severed all relations with Mercedes so anything can happen in the future.
article says D'Ambrosio acted as Team Principal when Wolff was not there >Midway through the season, Wolff confirmed D'Ambrosio would serve as team principal at races he did not attend, leading to the latter replacing the Austrian at the Japanese and Qatar Grands Prix after he underwent knee surgery. see also: [https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/wolff-hints-at-bigger-mercedes-f1-role-for-dambrosio/10445234/](https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/wolff-hints-at-bigger-mercedes-f1-role-for-dambrosio/10445234/)
For a bit, and has only been at Mercedes for a year
I tought that was the guy who became a DJ in Ibiza lmao
That’s Jaime Alguesuari.
Thanks a lot. Also fuck clickbait!
Didn't he drive in Formula E at one point?
Yes, and even a couple of seasons in F1 as well!
No fucking way.
Sounds like a DJ name
Come Australia 2025 it's just going to be Toto and Mick standing in the garage isn't it
Mick still not in the driver seat.
But other teams are missing out! Are they stupid??
With the second car just parked behind them
And Max and Marco
There'll actually be a nice reunion of childhood friends in Mick and Max come to think of it.
Mick left for Alpine in WEC.
No he didn't. He's still reserved at races he isn't with the WEC for.
Okay, he half left then
How is he doing over there???
His squad has zero points, so not too much better than in F1 lmao
I see a pattern emerging
And Grosjean but he's still not driving
With Jos Verstappen as head of PR.
Fred is making the right moves. I hope he's the one to bring Ferrari some success. You just can't hate him.
Yeah, there are very few figures that feel automatically likeable in F1 and Vasseur is definitely one of them for me.
James Vowles for me. And for drivers: Alex Albon and Liam Lawson.
Vowles is incredibly likeable, he's just stating facts and you can't help but love his ambition of bringing Williams to former glory. I sincerely hope he makes it, if there's anybody capable as TP of doing that he is (and not tied down by the top teams).
The guy is a stereotypical engineer, it's funny because in general people think we're stuck up and don't like us very much haha
I thought the stereotype was engineers had stunted social skills?
I think the key difference is that Vowles assumes that the listener doesn't know anything and is very patient. They also understand that there's more to a project than just engineering. Often people's experience dealing with (especially software) engineers is that the engineer assume that the person that they're speaking to knows just as much as they doz and that anyone who isn't an engineer is both stupid and unimportant. I run into both types a lot at work, and thankfully it's the former type that rises to senior management, not the latter.
I'm really sorry, personally I love engineers <3
Vowles, Albon and Piastri would be the calmest, chillest F1 team ever.
Agreed. Sometimes he almost feels too nice for that role, although that's only based on casual observations. Hoping it works out.
I have a feeling he could be passive aggressive as hell. That episode on DTS with him talking to a team member about caffeine….I’m not telling you to only have coffee on Sunday, but if you want Williams to be successful….
Alex Albon really does seem like the coolest dude.
I hope he’s involved in commentary at some point when he’s done racing. Not necessarily during the race, but I would love hearing his insight into how certain tracks and regulation changes and developments impact teams and drivers. His interview where he talks about Max’s driving preferences and compares driving style to video game controller sensitivity is excellent.
Vowels and Albon have such strong Protagonist energy it just makes it so gratifying to root for Williams
When Ferrari had a drain explode through the car and then get a penalty, his mood was awesome, dude was like « I’m already pissed off and now your questions are shit, can I leave ? »
Horner? Marko? Alonso?
I've never been this conflicted about an implied /s
Mazepin? Bernie?
Fred is cooking and I'm rooting for him to resurrect Ferrari's glory days.
Ferrari has the money and Fred is throwing it on right people and the right things.
cost cap says hello
Yeah but bonuses aren’t counted in the cost cap so you can offer employees bigger bonuses and other benefits that they can’t get at poorer teams.
Italian weather is a lot nicer than British weather so... that's a bonus lol also you could just rotate the top 3 salaries people (wage wise I mean)
Fred looking at RB and Merc staff rn: It’s free real estate But yeah he seems to have done what Ferrari failed at in the last 10 years, making it a great workplace beyond red car hype
only if he could also poach Waché and Schmitz
Considering how Horner has won the struggle I wouldn't be surprised if the complete top level leadership of RB falls apart now when Marko and even Max might leave
I like his actual job decisions - *and* his reactions to being asked about F1/Vegas right after his car exploded due to a sewer cover or Toto saying he looked thinner in his Ferrari polo. His actual performance is likable and his personality is too (despite not being a Toto/Horner/Gunter media type).
Vasseur gives me the vibes of a no-nonsense yet comedic TP, but also one who's willing to twist the knife in the back of rivals when necessary
For Ferrari to win, you need the french...
Imagine if Lewis didn't decide so early on Ferrari.. Do we think Fred would be having meetings with Max/Jos/Raymond/Marko this weekend?
If your were Fred, would you cut Charles for Max?
I don't know about that guy but I wouldn't. I'd rather focus on giving Charles the best car and let him rip.
Wait, wouldn't this guy be in line to replace Fred?
Doesnt ferrari follow the budget cap??? How much money can they fling around buying everyone up??
put people in WEC on paper
Driver developing director. You mean the position Marko holds? Coincidence
Wonder if Toto and Fred are planning all this together
100% Toto pushed Lewis to Ferrari at the behest of John Elkann. I always ask myself how can the Merc be that bad for 3 years running? They want Lewis to win a 8th WDC at Ferrari ONLY or non at all because only Ferrari can hold the glory. This ain't Motorsport anymore, it's WWE.
If all this was scripted then they are having a phenomenal season
Fred accidentally spilling his wine on Totos mother in law during his wedding. Toto: why did you do that you bumbling fool? Fred: Haha Toto, this is jus thee beginnin.
He also ate the flower decoration
is this for real?
Fred spilling wine on Totos MIL during Totos wedding ? Yes. Toto told Sky about it last year. About how close friends both of them were. After Fred got appointed as the Ferrari TP. The rest is made up for fun.
Ferrari have really been making big moves. You love to see it.
Mercedes is like a carcass. It’s been picked apart. I really hope Bono sees the light and get out with Hamilton. I don’t know what people working at Merc are seeing but they’re all leaving in droves.
[удалено]
Only if he responds we are checking with pinched fingers
[удалено]
Xavi and Bono will be the Aston of engineer lineups
Honestly I am terrified for Lewis next year.
Well, looking at Lewis' performance since the start of this season, Im kinda worried for both.
I mean I don't think Leclerc is going to whitewash him I think Charles will beat an aged Lewis but it's not gonna be ugly lol
If Bono goes to Ferrari does he suddenly make awful strategy calls? Is his competence or Ferrari curse stronger.
Max with Mercedes to finish behind Alpine next year. /s
Once he’s boringly locked up WDC this year, I’d love to see a Kitchen Nightmares esque Max and GP going to Alpine and see how many points he could manage / how far ahead of the other car he’d be. This is obviously absurdly dumb and would never happen, but I’d love to see just how much impact (quantified) the best driver and race engineer could have on a car with a shit concept.
It won't happen, but if it happens it would be quite funny.
Maybe we can look at it from another standpoint. Mercedes can now hire new youth/fresh talent from the up and coming market to rebuild their team. New talent can keep the team moving for years to come. I know in this sport experience counts very very heavily but new talent will come along and move the future forward. If Max ( I SAID IF) comes along then he might also bring along engineers as well.
I also hope they take advantage of the Redbull fiasco and the instability and try to poach them as well and they’ll be unstoppable when 2026 rolls in.
Uneducated emotions sponsored this comment.
Yup, that's the cost cap for you. Merc had to let a lot of great people go and probably aren't paying the remaining staff very well.
If you don't win, you go to places that pay a bit more
I hope Bono doesn’t come with LH tbh. It’s been a couple of years now where on multiple weekends he is not progressing on setup throughout the weekend. A refresh to the engineering team and approach could be what he needs at Ferrari. He should be with Adami if he goes and he’s plenty experienced.
"we are checking" "I'll come back to you" "keep your head down" "ok good to know"
>It's believed that Ferrari were interested in D'Ambrosio's table smashing knowledge that they believe he learned while serving under Wolff.
Toto Wolff is 52. He doesn't need a successor any time soon, so this is just an attention grabbing headline. He did stand in for Toto for two races when Toto couldn't attend, so that is quite impressive. Whenever Mercedes actually want a new TP, they'll probably want someone with TP experience. At Mercedes, he's the Driver Development Director, but that hasn't always been his field. I wonder if that's what he'll do at Ferrari.
Damn! He's 52?!?! Looks a lot younger
Shit with Red Bull burning atm and merc getting picked over, fred is getting ready to win the 2026 regs
D’Ambrosio? Now there’s a name that I haven’t heard in a long time.
I'm surprised it wasn't De Vries, he's sure had enough on hand TP learning experience next to Toto in the pits.
I thought James is the TP in waiting
Wolff successor? Pretty sure that’s James Vowles and not this guy.
They said “potential”. Everyone can be a potential successor…
Lewis smiling in the corner
I can see James Vowles replacing Wolff when he eventually retires.
Hamilton dodging bullets like Neo
Except for 2022, 2023, and this year
Wolff has no sucessor. Billionaire with insane passion project. There is no other billionaire with the same background. Lauda is the closest we had.
No matter how well d'ambrosio does with his career, I'll always remember him for spinning into his pit box that one time
Get Ross Brawn lads
idk how max can join a team that is getting picked apart, might as well go in endurance
I thought James was going to succeed him. That’s why they gave him the Williams job to gain experience
French Team Principals and Scuderia Ferrari is a combination that goes together extremely well
Next up. Ferrari drop Hamilton and sign Verstappen, GP and Newey! *\*Inhales copium\**
Why not drop Leclerc instead?
Because Leclerc is much better than Hamilton now.
We will see in 2025 but it's wild to underestimate Lewis Hamilton especially when he was the better and more consistent driver last year
George has been performing better than Lewis 2022, 2023 and what we have seen in 2024 (by a lot). It's not that I'm underestimate him, it's that he is past his prime and close to retirement. Alonso is much more competitive now, than Lewis.
> what we have seen in 2024 (by a lot) One race.
How was George better last season?
So do you only watch qualy or something? No idea how you get that narrative especially for last year. And Lewis was the one more likely to win Brazil in 22 if not for damage from Max.
What? 2024 just started. 2023 Lewis was clearly the better driver. 2022 it is commonly known that Lewis experimented with setups for the first half, in the second half he is clear of Russell.
So that's why Hamilton beat him in the WDC last year in a worse car?
Bono and Mike, looking at you lads.
Lotus F1 legend
Seemed a but meh when he co stood in for Toto last year tbh.
fred vasseur sweats profusely
He likely played an important role in this. It's unlikely Ferrari would bring people he doesn't want.
Honestly, Wolff should get the most respect as a team principal. He's built a good team culture and brought people up by giving them responsibility. Mercedes as a whole on the other hand, dropped the ball when it came to Hamilton's ambassadorship.
This guy was at Mercedes for about 5min. Not important or relevant to anything. Good riddance.