Ferrari loses key figure as David Sanchez resigns to join rival F1 team

David Sanchez, the former head of vehicle concept at Ferrari, has resigned and is expected to join a rival Formula 1 team, possibly McLaren, after a period of gardening leave.

David Sanchez, who was previously in charge of vehicle concept at Ferrari for ten years, has resigned and is expected to join a competing Formula 1 team, possibly McLaren, following a period of gardening leave. Sanchez had been contemplating this move for some time.

As the head of vehicle concept, David Sanchez played a crucial role in the development of the 2022 and 2023 cars at Ferrari. Prior to this position, he held various aerodynamic roles within the company, eventually rising to become the head of aero from 2019 to 2021.

According to recent reports from Italian media, David Sanchez resigned from his position and has been put on a long period of gardening leave.

David Sanchez has now confirmed that he has made the decision to leave Ferrari and join “another F1 project,” which had been previously speculated by Italian media to be McLaren. Before joining Ferrari, Sanchez had a five-year stint at McLaren where he held senior positions as an aerodynamicist and eventually became the aero team leader. Interestingly, McLaren is now led by Andrea Stella, who was a former colleague of Sanchez at Ferrari.

McLaren has experienced a difficult start to the 2023 Formula 1 season, which is reminiscent of their slow start last year when the new aerodynamic regulations were introduced.

Despite McLaren’s poor start to the season, the team has expressed confidence in their technical director James Key and has given no indication of any plans to replace him. Therefore, it is likely that if David Sanchez were to join McLaren, he would be a part of a restructured department and would take on a new role within the team.

David Sanchez’s resignation marks the departure of another senior figure from Ferrari, following a series of changes at the team. At the end of last season, Mattia Binotto resigned from his position as team principal. Additionally, there were several significant personnel changes over the winter period, including the departures of Jonathan Giacobazzi and Gino Rosato, who held key roles within the team but were not public-facing.

In addition to the changes mentioned earlier, Ferrari also restructured its pitwall and trackside team ahead of the new season, resulting in the move of Inaki Rueda from head of strategy to a factory role.

There has been speculation in the Italian media regarding the future of other senior Ferrari figures, including Laurent Mekies, who has specific trackside responsibilities under the team’s new boss, Fred Vasseur. Enrico Cardile, who heads the chassis department, has also been questioned regarding his future at the team.

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