Ferrari clears up confusion over F1 technical director

In the wake of the departure of team principal Mattia Binotto earlier this year, the team had been without a formal technical director on the chassis side as this was a role that had been vacant for a while.

It has long been anticipated that Cardile, who has been head of chassis since early 2021, would step up into the technical director role as incoming team principal Fred Vasseur restructured the outfit.

But such a move was never announced, and the team had continued to refer to Cardile as its head of chassis.

But ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Vasseur clarified the technical structure at the squad and said that, while nothing had been made public before, the team has long been clear about Cardile's job title.

Asked by Autosport to clarify Cardile's role because of the confusion, Vasseur said: "I don't know where the story is coming from, because the organisation chart of the company is crystal clear.

"All the guys working on the chassis side are reporting at the end to Enrico Cardile, and for me Enrico is the technical director.

"If you want to add something, he is the technical director of the chassis side and we have, in parallel, Enrico Gualtieri, who is the technical director of the engine side."

Enrico Cardile, Head of Chassis, Ferrari, in the Team Principals Press Conference

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

He added: "I had this question last week in Zandvoort, when people asked about having two technical directors. But I said it is like all the other F1 organisations: you have one technical director in Brackley, one in Brixworth. You have one in Viry-Chatillon and one in Enstone.

"You can't have the same guy doing the technical director of the two sides. And at least on our side, it's crystal clear that we have Enrico Cardile who is the technical director of chassis and Enrico Gualtieri, technical director of the PU.

"I don't know where the misunderstanding is coming from, because on paper, it's crystal clear."

The confirmation of Cardile's role comes amid Ferrari continuing to push with a recruitment drive to add more senior technical staff and bolster its progress.

Vasseur said the desire to find more staff was not a reflection of his feeling that the current technical structure was not right.

"It's not that you are weak that you have to do something," he said. "It is that the DNA of the competition is that you have to improve.

"Even if the organisation is winning today, you need to have the mindset to do better. If, at one stage, you start to stop to improve, to wish to improve, you are dead.

"We are into this process. We are recruiting because we have still a margin with the cost cap and we will do it properly. It's quite crucial for us to do this move."