Following much speculation, David Sanchez has officially confirmed that he has left his role as head of vehicle concept at Ferrari, with the Frenchman set for “another F1 project” following a period of gardening leave.
Losing Sanchez is hugely costly for Ferrari, given that he was responsible for the team’s 2022 car and their 2023 challenger.
Sanchez, therefore, understands the SF-23 better than anybody else, meaning Ferrari have lost one of their most knowledgeable employees.
Sanchez joined the Maranello-based team in October 2012 as the team’s principal aerodynamicist, after switching from McLaren.
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He went on to work his way up the Ferrari ranks, before playing a crucial role under former team principal Mattia Binotto.
Interestingly, it’s been reported by Formu1a.uno that Sanchez is set to move to a UK-based team, with a return to McLaren having been massively speculated.
The timing of Sanchez’s departure will likely cause some issues for the Scuderia, who are in desperate need of bouncing back from a disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix, after Charles Leclerc retired with yet another power unit-related failure.
Sanchez confirmed his departure on LinkedIn, where he revealed why he’s decided to leave.
“After 10 years in Ferrari, I have decided to leave the team for another F1 project,” Sanchez said.
“My decision, thoroughly matured for quite some time. Looking forward to getting back to work.”
Whether Sanchez is the last senior departure remains to be seen, given that new team principal Frederic Vasseur is continuing to make his mark on the Italians.
Vasseur is certainly coming down hard on the entire team, with the Frenchman having admitted before the season-opener that “every single” department “has to improve”.
“Every single area of every single team has to improve,” Vasseur said, as reported by Motorsport.com.
“This is important. It’s the DNA of my business.
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“We need to have the approach to try to do a better job tomorrow than today. And it’s not just the race engineer or the chief of aero, it has to come from every person of the company including the production.
“If the guy on the production can produce a bit faster, or a bit lighter or a bit cheaper, it will be a support for the development of the car.
“We have to send this kind of mindset to every single team member.”