Mercedes has acquired two engineers from Ferrari, including their beloved former design chief Simone Resta, as part of a bid to strengthen its Formula 1 operation, writes British motorsport .
Resta has been signed as director of strategic development and will work directly with technical director James Allison to progress car-related projects.
Also joining Mercedes is Enrico Sampo, who joins as Head of Performance Software Applications.
Sampo has been head of Ferrari’s driver simulator team for the past few years and has vast experience in an area that has proven critical to the car’s performance in the run-up to and during race weekends.
Although both have signed for Mercedes, their contract terms mean they will not be able to join until 2025, with their exact arrival dates yet to be determined.
These moves come at a time when Mercedes is strengthening its structure in the long term and looking for areas for improvement.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and technical director Allison signed long-term contract extensions last winter, while the team also recently appointed David Nelson as the replacement for performance director Loic Serra, who will move to Ferrari.
The transfer of Resta and Sampo from Ferrari to Mercedes comes at a time when the team from Maranello is eyeing key engineers from the German team.
As well as signing Lewis Hamilton for 2025, Ferrari will also secure the services of Mercedes’ director of driver development Jerome D’Ambrosio who will head their young driver development programme.
Resta’s signing is particularly significant for Mercedes as he has vast experience in both F1 and Ferrari.
The Italian is a long-time Ferrari man, and was recently loaned to Haas as technical director from 2021 until the beginning of this year.
His contract was part of an ongoing deal between the Italian manufacturer and Haas, with Ferrari looking to capitalize on stronger technical ties between the two organizations that have worked closely together since Haas entered F1 in 2016.
Resta was previously Ferrari’s design chief between 2014 and 2018, working with Allison, before a brief stint as Alfa Romeo’s technical director.
After returning to Maranello in 2019, Resta jd led the department responsible for chassis development before moving to Haas.
His departure from Haas was unexplained as it was unclear why Ferrari had suddenly withdrawn him, especially since he had made it clear that he would not be given a role at Maranello.
Instead, it now appears that Mercedes development may have been a factor in how things played out.
