Arrivabene Out of Ferrari

[kals]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Departabene

Arrivamale...

I don't understand

[kals]

The writing had been on the wall for some time. But today came the official confirmation that Maurizio Arrivabene’s time as Ferrari Team Principal had come to an inglorious end.

History is unlikely to be kind to the Italian’s tenure as head of Formula 1’s most famous team, his four years in charge accounting for almost half of the Scuderia’s current championship dry spell. A divisive character, Arrivabene’s rule was uncompromising and, in many quarters, proved to be unpopular. And having failed once to capitalise on his team producing a car arguably the equal or better than that of their German rivals, it appears that his failure to do so a second time in 2018 was the final straw.

Arrivabene had been involved with Ferrari for far longer than just his four years at the helm of the team. He joined Philip Morris over 20 years ago, rising within the company’s ranks to find himself sat at the table of the F1 Commission a decade later as representative of all the sport’s sponsors. It was this experience that was cited as one of the major factors in his appointment to the role of Team Principal, when he was given the opportunity by Sergio Marchionne, himself still settling into his new role as head of parent company Fiat Chrysler.

Despite Arrivabene’s initial public-facing moves being to play up to the fanbase and exude an aura of inclusion and friendliness, his first decisions, as observed by those of us who work inside the paddock, were completely at odds with the smiles and bravado. The walls, both physical and metaphorical, were quick to go up around the team. But far from creating a safe environment in which the once mighty outfit could rebuild, it appeared that what was being built was a system built on the fear of failure.

For some, Arrivabene was seen as little more than a Marchionne puppet and a man who simply did as he was ordered by a boss determined to obliterate the long shadow left by Luca di Montezemolo and establish his own legacy on the brand. Yet for others, the style of Arrivabene’s leadership was seen as being entirely of his own making. Those that had known him throughout his time with the team’s longest standing partner believed that what they were witnessing was the true side of the man, now emboldened by power and position.

Yet far from acting as a unifying force, many felt Arrivabene’s rule by fear fractured his team and ultimately failed his employers. The reality seemingly became one of a team that spent so long looking over its shoulder that it stumbled through not paying attention to what stood ahead. The frustrations created by fear ultimately seemed to reveal themselves as anger, the heavy burden being carried by both of the team’s drivers showing itself in the most public of fashions in radio messages which on face value were hyped as being little more than meme-worthy banter, yet under the surface spoke to deep division, disappointment and desperation.

If rumours are to be believed, Sergio Marchionne had already made moves to replace his Team Principal. Just as it is understood that he had already lined up Charles Leclerc for a 2019 seat at Ferrari, so it now seems that he had prepared the “Marlboro Man’s” path to the door. With Marchionne’s sudden and tragic passing however, Arrivabene might possibly have thought he’d be given a stay of execution. And yet it was in the immediate aftermath of Marchionne’s death that the pieces truly circled around Ferrari’s Team Principal.

Whether he had already been anointed as the natural successor to team leadership under Marchionne or not, the team’s technical head Mattia Binotto soon emerged as the man most likely to replace Arrivabene at season’s end. Rumours swirled as races were missed. Team personnel press conference line-ups changed at the last minute as team politics started to creep outside the walls erected by the man who increasingly looked set to be undone by the festering infighting he’d done so much to promote within their confines.

And all the while, the sharks circled. Mercedes, Renault, McLaren… apparently, they and others all offered Binotto a way out. The man who had brought Ferrari a car with which they could have won two world championships became their most important asset. And in a battle between himself and Arrivabene, only one man was ever going to win.

And so here we are.

With Ferrari moving onto their fourth Team Principal in five years, is it fair to pin so much of the blame for the team’s failure to win championships on the back of one man? With the burden of such a rich and successful history, is the position now nothing but a poisoned chalice?

If this was football, one could argue Arrivabene might not have lasted beyond the end of 2017. Yet motorsport, by its nature, requires far longer for the impact and influence of a new manager to play out. And so, after four years of his leadership, perhaps we can ably reflect on what Maurizio Arrivabene brought to Ferrari. For if it wasn’t the championships that were sought, it must have been something.

Sadly, you will find no happy epitaph here. The era of Ferrari dominance in the 2000s led by Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne saw a team ruled by structure, process and delegated responsibility. It was a team in which pride played as crucial a role as performance, indeed with each one begetting the other. Arrivabene’s legacy will forever be the opposite. And while the indelible pride of pulling on a red shirt still existed, the joy that went along with it seemed over recent years to have fallen in short supply.

With the apparent architect of the self-inflicted wounds of recent years now gone, the New Year seemingly arrives with new beginnings. The man held up as the shining light in the team’s most recent glories now leads the Scuderia, they have one of the greatest drivers of his generation behind the wheel of one car and one of the most exciting youngsters in a generation in the other.

All who have the honour of wearing Rosso Corsa will enter the year under no illusions of the enormity of the job that stands before them. Yet all will be equally aware of the mistakes made over the last few years. One hopes that the joy of racing returns to the Scuderia in 2019 along with that basic but crucial tenet of success – that performance begets pride begets performance. And that teams win and lose as one united, unified body.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Of course looking at it logically, with two heads of department who cant work together, both at the top of their respective tree, you want to lose the more easily replaceable one.... Binotto would have I believe have been a much wanted commodity with any other major team given his progress with the engine project, not to mention the information and future development ideas he would have in his head. Keeping him at Ferrari at least saves losing him and his undoubted talents to a competitor. Arrivabene, a Marlboro journeyman with little success in his function and running a team seemingly lacking direction, a positio certainly more replaceable than a tech guru.

Who are you going to push out the door? It aint rocket science is it.

[caneparo]

Departabene

Arrivamale...

I don't understand

Arivved bad...i know it’s a bad joke!
We could say arrivabene e riparte male (arrived well and departed bad)

[caneparo]

Of course looking at it logically, with two heads of department who cant work together, both at the top of their respective tree, you want to lose the more easily replaceable one.... Binotto would have I believe have been a much wanted commodity with any other major team given his progress with the engine project, not to mention the information and future development ideas he would have in his head. Keeping him at Ferrari at least saves losing him and his undoubted talents to a competitor. Arrivabene, a Marlboro journeyman with little success in his function and running a team seemingly lacking direction, a positio certainly more replaceable than a tech guru.

Who are you going to push out the door? It aint rocket science is it.

Maurizio always looked a teamworker but seemed lacking the balls you need to run an f1 team (or maybe he just lacked hamilton among his drivers)

[PTRACER]

Ferrari’s policy of firing managers just because they finished 2nd in the championship is the biggest joke ever. Maybe they should look at their drivers first and their aerodynamicists second. Arrivabene was doing a good job.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Ferrari has long had a scapegoat policy.... and Marchionne clearly was getting bored with him, hence the actual decisions were being made it seems by Elkann (ie Leclerc for Kmi. It seems that although Arrivabene claimed responsibility for the decision it was Elkann's decision and Arrivabene had become just a Yes man.

I read now there is some doubt about Camillieri's future with Ferrari... that may be clickbait as it was just a mention.

[caneparo]

Arrivabene was put in that position because he was the man of the sponsor when thing went downhill. There is no doubt arrivabene was a company man and not the leader f1 team needs. When marchionne became more involved in the team management he opted for the i ternal
Solution promoting binotto who had a long professional carreer in ferrari

[Everso Biggyballies]

Just been reminded how many principals at Ferrari have been in and out the Marinello gate since Todt left... obviously the longest tenure was Luca di Montezemola, but then there was, on his departure a very brief interlude with Mattiacci (SP?) before Arrivabene came in. Now Arrivabene has gone and Binotto is in. I wonder how long he will last.

[kals]

People in the motorsport media are pulling no punches about Arrivabene. The sense I get from the articles I've read about his departure is that he was an unlikable man who did little at Ferrari other than create friction and fear, destabilizing the structure and mismanaging Vettel to the point where he would crumble under the slightest pressure. The success the team achieved under his watch was more thanks to the technical side of the team.

Failure is not an option for Ferrari in Italy. That makes it difficult for team bosses to stay in Maranello for very long. Particularly at the moment, when the team's championship win drought is now more than a decade long.

Ferrari's former technical director Ross Brawn has described it as being "condemned for finishing second, as it's simply not good enough at home" and that a failure to win "becomes almost a national question in Italy".

That question was asked again after Ferrari's 2018 defeat. Apparently the answer - for the third time since earning its last championship success, the 2008 constructors' title - is to dump the team boss.

Maurizio Arrivabene's status at Ferrari dipped dramatically from its starting point, when former chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne confidently declared he had "the qualities of someone who leads by his strong personal example, his professionalism, and the integrity of his decisions - in short by the type of person he is".

How far Arrivabene had fallen from those standards is probably best highlighted by the fact he was reportedly due to be moved aside before Marchionne's death last summer.

That and the fact he has been axed, supposedly at the behest of Marchionne's successor as Ferrari president John Elkann, despite new Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri (below) being a friend of Arrivabene's from Philip Morris.

Despite his summer reprieve, in tragic circumstances, Arrivabene had the air of a man on borrowed time.

Having botched a team-orders decision in July's German Grand Prix, Ferrari did the same in Italy - where a passive stance played a considerable role in the team throwing away what was expected to be a one-two.

Another major error occurred in Japan, when the team opted for the wrong tyres in qualifying, and Sebastian Vettel's run of high-profile mistakes also continued. The spotlight turned on Ferrari and Vettel and as the pressure mounted Arrivabene did little to diffuse the situation.

He was already becoming increasingly vocal in the media, having previously deferred responsibility to Marchionne, by the time he went on the offensive - against his own team, in response to its error in Japan.

Arrivabene's aggravation did not end there, with more irate appearances in the press to follow.

By the end of the year he seemed to take issue with any question that even sought to gain his point of view, or explanation, on a topic for the first time - responding with at least a hint of aggression as he acted as if he had already been over it before. His stance did not soften.

After the season ended he hit out at reports technical chief Mattia Binotto was set to exit amid suggestions of an ongoing disagreement: "Let's make it clear once and for all. The rumours about Mattia are a fake news, put around to create instability in the team.

"It is an attempt to try to create problems where there are no problems, and I do not want to comment on false rumours anymore.

"During this season there have been many attempts at destabilisation, sometimes with stories about the drivers, others about the technicians. My position? Ask Camilleri."

Ultimately the question about Arrivabene's position was asked at the highest level and answered in a resounding fashion: he's no longer the man for the job. But, really, was he ever?

A long-time Ferrari ally as part of his role with key sponsor Philip Morris, and well known to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone for that very reason, Arrivabene was viewed as a no-nonsense operator who was well-versed in the mechanisms of F1.

He had sat on the F1 Commission for a long time and was viewed as the perfect puppet for Marchionne to use to re-establish Ferrari's political influence. It would prove the wrong decision.

The only real success with Arrivabene has been the improvement in Ferrari's on-track performances, and he can't even claim the real credit for that.

After a disappointing slump in 2016, the behind-the-scenes changes implemented on Arrivabene's watch were key to thrusting Ferrari into nearly-but-not-quite title contender status in '17 and '18.

But that series of changes was orchestrated by Marchionne, in a similar fashion to what he had planned for last summer - when Binotto was initially slated to take over from Arrivabene. What Marchionne wanted, he usually got.

Even beyond the grave that still seems to be the case, first with Charles Leclerc's promotion and now Arrivabene's exit and replacement.

Marchionne's 2016 shake-up placed Binotto, a man who has a significant calming effect within Ferrari as well as detailed knowledge of how it operates and how to get the best from it, into the role of technical chief and that sparked Ferrari's turnaround.

The irony is the overhaul that left Arrivabene spearheading Ferrari's best season in a decade is what ultimately allowed Ferrari to dump him.

Ferrari's most impressive season in a decade counted for little. Arrivabene had played no significant role in either design or execution of the grand plan that gave Ferrari arguably 2018's best car.

His contribution was to make sure it was a stuttering, nervous race team with a star driver crumbling under pressure and expectation.

He is the latest Ferrari chief who failed to produce, which means the team has just one championship success to show for the 11 seasons and three different team bosses since Jean Todt officially stepped down from the role for 2008.

In reality, though, Arrivabene never developed beyond Marchionne's pawn.

When Arrivabene saw an opportunity to do so, under new Ferrari overall leadership, he fell short of the qualities required to be an effective F1 team leader.

It's no surprise that Arrivabene failed at Ferrari at a time when Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is celebrating five straight title doubles.

Like Arrivabene, Wolff is a man with no notable motorsport background - beyond stakes in HWA and Williams before his move to Mercedes as executive director and subsequently overall motorsport boss.

Where Arrivabene created a blame culture, Wolff has been praised from many directions for his man-management.

While there is always a political game at play in the background, his ability to motivate an all-conquering team to new heights, against greater challenges, is the foundation of what will be a phenomenal F1 legacy whenever he moves on.

Arrivabene was not capable of replicating that at Ferrari, and that is why it became a matter of urgency to put someone in place who is.

And in Binotto, Ferrari has the antithesis of the man who got it so badly wrong.

This time Ferrari has entrusted its fortunes in a man who cares little for political gamesmanship, but knows an awful lot about what makes a good F1 car and how to put together the team to produce it.

That's why Binotto threatens to be a genuinely valid response to Italy's 'national question' - one Arrivabene never really looked like being the answer to.

[erwin greven]

Arrivabene: the man with few friends at Ferrari
date: 7th January 2019

Where did Maurizio Arrivabene go wrong as Ferrari Formula 1 team boss, and what legacy does he leave?

Maurizio Arrivabene’s dismissal from the role of Ferrari team principal was logical. He was not the right man for the job – and was of less value to the team than Mattia Binotto who may well have been lost to Ferrari if Arrivabene had stayed on as his boss.

That’s not to say it was expected. The impetus to action it was a decisive one and came from a Chairman, John Elkann, only a few months into the role.

Reports elsewhere suggesting Arrivabene’s firing was initiated by MD Louis Camilleri are believed to be wide of the mark, incidentally, and we understand that Camilleri’s position is itself still under review.

What did Arrivabene do wrong? He lacked the ability to lead and inspire. What he saw as leadership, many of those around him took as bullying. He had a similar relationship with the media, deploying an outright offensive manner that gained him few friends there.

He covered up his lack of detailed understanding with dismissive and aggressive responses. He didn’t seem to even understand what it was he was not understanding. At first I took it as a language barrier, but in time I came to know that it wasn’t – and that he expressed himself in much the same way in his native tongue. He appreciated questions from those around him about as much as he did from the media.

He was an autocrat to those below him but without the inspirational qualities to compensate. He was a ‘yes sir, three bags full sir’ guy to those above him.

Arrivabene was in the wrong job – something that Sergio Marchionne had come to realise after having plucked him from Philip Morris.

The late chairman had planned the exact change that has just happened and had informed the board of it. Hence Elkann is only doing what Marchionne had planned (just as with the hiring of Charles Leclerc in place of Kimi Räikkönen), even though he wasn’t beholden to it after Marchionne’s sudden passing.

During last year’s Chinese Grand Prix weekend the renowned F1 technical illustrator Giorgio Piola photographed the steering wheel that Sebastian Vettel had placed atop of the Ferrari’s cockpit when in the pitlane.

Piola then drew the wheel and wrote about the extra control that it featured.

The following day Arrivabene accosted Piola, growling menaces at him. The incident gave a good measure of the man.

This is the man who a couple of years ago broke his usual vow of not talking to the cameras – to say that Vettel should stop trying to run the team and concentrate instead on justifying his position as a driver. He maybe took that as man management skills. Instead it lost him the respect of one of the biggest assets at his disposal.

As Arrivabene ran the race team through a culture of intimidation and fear, his opposite number in the technical group Mattia Binotto had convinced Marchionne of how the removal of fear could unleash much of the creative talent of the people within. Marchionne acted upon the suggestion and applied management science to making it happen – lo and behold Ferrari became the most creative technical group on the grid after years of just following the lead of others.

So we eventually arrived at the position in 2018 where the worst race team was running the best car
So we eventually arrived at the position in 2018 where the worst race team was running the best car. It wasn’t the worst race team because of the people within it – but because of how it was being led. This also seeped through to the mindset of its lead driver.

That’s the essence behind what has just happened.

F1 is a people game and people are complex, especially competitive and creative people.

Arrivabene’s job probably wasn’t advertised but if it had been it should have included this line: Intimidation and one-dimensional thinking would debar the applicant.

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opin ... ds-ferrari

[kals]

It is interesting that the journos are coming out of the cracks with their dislike and stories of aggression at the hands of Arrivabene. It has been four years and only now that he is out of the F1 paddock are these stories and true feelings emerging.

That shows that either they were fearful of repercussions from Arrivabene or even F1 (being barred from press conferences, not being able to do their job, losing credentials, etc...) or both. Shame really.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Yes, I thought the same. (re the sudden releasing of media hate on his departure) As you say it is a shame that it would seem media tongues / pens were scared or obliged to not say what they really felt.... freedom of speech and all that.

[caneparo]

It is interesting that the journos are coming out of the cracks with their dislike and stories of aggression at the hands of Arrivabene. It has been four years and only now that he is out of the F1 paddock are these stories and true feelings emerging.

That shows that either they were fearful of repercussions from Arrivabene or even F1 (being barred from press conferences, not being able to do their job, losing credentials, etc...) or both. Shame really.

Agreed. Arrivabene was in the circus by more than 20 years. It s pathetic that journalists who licked his ass until yesterday are trying to shower shit on him.
By the way italian newspaper is speculating that arrivabene could take some important position at juventus where the ceo seat has to be filled yet

[Everso Biggyballies]

It is interesting that the journos are coming out of the cracks with their dislike and stories of aggression at the hands of Arrivabene. It has been four years and only now that he is out of the F1 paddock are these stories and true feelings emerging.

That shows that either they were fearful of repercussions from Arrivabene or even F1 (being barred from press conferences, not being able to do their job, losing credentials, etc...) or both. Shame really.

Agreed. Arrivabene was in the circus by more than 20 years. It s pathetic that journalists who licked his ass until yesterday are trying to shower shit on him.
By the way italian newspaper is speculating that arrivabene could take some important position at juventus where the ceo seat has to be filled yet

Yeah that was talked about pre Christmas and my understanding is Arrivabene is already on their (Juventus) board of Directors....

[caneparo]

Arrivabene is an indipendent director of juventus fc. there is speculation that he could take the ceo vacancy or a top management one