Ferrari confirm new technical director as Adrian Newey future reports intensify – round-up

Ferrari remain without an F1 title of any kind since 2008

There is much to get through in today’s selection of F1 news, not least the goings-on at Ferrari in their technical team.

Fred Vasseur did say there would be an announcement on that front after Monza, and on Thursday they followed through with their next steps moving forward.

F1 news: Ferrari confirm new technical director; Adrian Newey Aston Martin reports grow

Loic Serra to be new Ferrari chassis technical director

When he starts work at the beginning of October, former Mercedes man Loic Serra will be taking on the role of chassis technical director at Ferrari, the role vacated by Enrico Cardile over the summer.

Along with that, the Scuderia confirmed a seven-person structure they are working with at the top of the team moving forward, that also appears to rule them out of the running to sign Adrian Newey from next season.

Ferrari said in confirming its structure: “Serra will therefore be responsible for the following departments: Chassis Project Engineering, headed up by Fabio Motecchi; Vehicle Performance, headed up by Marco Adurno, Aerodynamics, headed up by Diego Tondi; Track Engineering, headed up by Matteo Togninalli and Chassis Operations, headed up by Diego Ioverno, who also continues in the role of Sporting Director.

“The role of Technical Director Power Unit continues to be assigned to Enrico Gaultieri reporting directly to Fred Vasseur.”

Read more: Ferrari announce new technical director with seven-person structure revealed

Why Ferrari took step back from potential Adrian Newey signing

PlanetF1.com understands Adrian Newey is set to sign for Aston Martin in the coming days, which could be announced in the lead-up to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

This would again see him not sign for the Scuderia, having been linked with them multiple times over the years.

We’ve taken a look at the reasons why, should this be confirmed to be the case, the design legend will have opted for a move elsewhere.

Read more: Revealed: Why Ferrari backed away from $100m fight for Adrian Newey

Helmut Marko denies Red Bull issues stem to Adrian Newey departure

Sticking on the Newey theme, while Red Bull have fallen backwards in the competitive order, Helmut Marko has denied that has had anything to do with the influence of their chief technology officer’s upcoming departure from the team.

“Of course, there is an opinion among fans that our relapse has something to do with the departure of Adrian Newey,” Marko wrote in a column for Speedweek.

“But that’s not true. Newey was no longer involved in all the details of vehicle development back in the spring.

“Which of course cannot be denied: Newey is Newey, a man with incredible experience, that has always characterised him, but our problem lies elsewhere.”

Read more: Helmut Marko makes Adrian Newey claim with fans’ Red Bull theory addressed

McLaren respond to Max Verstappen’s ‘not realistic’ title claim

Having said both titles are ‘not realistic’ as things stand pace-wise, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella responded by saying Max Verstappen is a strong talker.

“Max is good, even with his tongue, not just on the track,” Stella told media including PlanetF1.com.

“Obviously he knows that the car he’s driving at the moment seems to provide him with some challenges.”

Read more: Max Verstappen ‘good with his tongue’ as McLaren answer ‘not realistic’ title claim

Mercedes respond to Kimi Antonelli crash from Monza FP1

Toto Wolff gave a glowing assessment of Kimi Antonelli’s pace in FP1 at Monza, prior to his crash that saw him in the barriers early in the session.

Alongside that, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin agreed, but thinks there will be a way of looking to ease him into a Grand Prix weekend moving forward.

“A bit of a shame that he had that accident at Parabolica,” he said in Mercedes’ post-race debrief.

“The pace was certainly good, we’ll chat to him about building up a bit more gently in future and how you approach the race weekend, but yes we’re looking forward to getting him in the car again, we’ll pick the right circuit for that.

“We’ve got a lot of sprint races coming up so you’re not going to want to have a race driver missing their only free practice session at a sprint race, so limited choice, but yes he will be back in and we’re looking forward to getting him back in the car.”

Read more: Mercedes to hold Kimi Antonelli talks with key message after F1 debut crash