Ferrari Confirms Serra, D’Ambrosio Joining from Mercedes

Ferrari announced the hiring of Loïc Serra and Jérôme D’Ambrosio from Mercedes, effective October, marking strategic additions to their team.

Ferrari confirmed today that it has hired Jérôme d’Ambrosio and Loïc Serra from Mercedes F1.

Speculation had been swirling for weeks about the two men, and now it is official: Serra, the former performance director at Mercedes F1, will head chassis performance engineering at Ferrari starting October 1st. He will be under the direction of Enrico Cardile.

He will oversee various areas at Maranello, including track engineering, aerodynamic development, operations, and vehicle performance. Serra was born in France in 1972 and holds a degree in mechanical engineering from studies in Aix-en-Provence and Paris. After university, he worked for Michelin and then for the BMW-Sauber and Mercedes F1 teams.

As for the former Belgian F1 driver, Jérôme d’Ambrosio, he will also start on October 1st and will take on a clear role as deputy director alongside Fred Vasseur. The Belgian held a similar role at Mercedes F1, albeit more focused on driver development. With Toto Wolff maintaining his position as team director, d’Ambrosio chose to pursue opportunities elsewhere.

D’Ambrosio is also appointed director of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, the young driver program of the Maranello brand. D’Ambrosio was born in Belgium in 1985 and was a professional racing driver until 2020. His track record includes a win in GP2, three in Formula E, and he also participated in 20 Formula 1 Grands Prix from 2011 to 2012.

Both men are following Lewis Hamilton, although in Serra’s case, his signing with Ferrari was finalized several months ago. The duration of his notice period was the final detail to be negotiated.