Marco Mattiacci leaves Ferrari after only eight months

Yesterday, it was announced that Ferrari boss Marco Mattiacci has left the Formula 1 team only eight months after joining and will be replaced by Maurizio Arrivabene.

Just a few hours after Mattiacci said he was fully focused on helping the Italian outfit move forward with its plans for 2014, a statement from the Ferrari team announced his departure in favour of Arrivabene, a senior Phillip Morris executive and F1 Commission member.

Arrivabene, who has known Ferrari for a long time via his work at sponsor Philip Morris, joins with immediate effect in a move that has been put together by new Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne.

In a statement to the media yesterday, the Ferrari team announced the departure of Mattiacci and the arrival of Arrivabene as follows:-

'We decided to appoint Maurizio Arrivabene because, at this historic moment in time for the Scuderia and for Formula 1, we need a person with a thorough understanding not just of Ferrari but also of the governance mechanisms and requirements of the sport.

'Maurizio has a unique wealth of knowledge: he has been extremely close to the Scuderia for years and, as a member of the F1 Commission, is also keenly aware of the challenges we are facing. He has been a constant source of innovative ideas focused on revitalisation of Formula 1.

'His managerial experience on a highly complex and closely regulated market is also of great importance, and will help him manage and motivate the team.

'We would also like to thank Marco Mattiacci for his service to Ferrari in the last 15 years and we wish him well in his future endeavours.'

From the announcement yesterday, it is clear that the Ferrari team feel that replacing Mattiacci after eight months is the correct thing to do and that the arrival of Arrivabene will help the team more get back to the front of the grid again. Some pundits and fans would argue that this was coming, while some would argue that this would have happened but as quickly as it has.

It has been noted within the paddock and the sport that speculation about Mattiacci’s future surfaced at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as he drew short of confirming he would be at the team for the start of 2015. When asked by the media whether he expected to remain as team principal next season, Mattiacci replied with the following; “I’m very focused at working very hard, as the first day I arrived at the Scuderia. I’m working extremely hard and I will keep working extremely hard.”

But it would seem that Mattiacci's reassurances wasn't enough for Ferrari alongside his experience within the Ferrari organisation overall and his eight months into the role. To me personally, Mattiacci did the best with what he could do with the experience he has within the organisation in the eight months he was in the role. I have argued that Mattiacci should have learnt from his predecessor while working in the role for at least a year and given him that timeframe to try and get Ferrari back to the front once again.

But Ferrari feels that the Formula One experience that Arrivabene has under him is a better fit for them. However, that hasn't been the case by Ferrari and for them to publically acknowledge Mattiacci's input is great to see, but the question is; will Mattiacci be given another role in the Ferrari organisation or has he been asked to leave the organisation fully because of his performance in the Team Principal role?

I really hope that Ferrari has given him a new role or his old role back in the organisation as it would be extremely unfair of them to do this especially as I think he didn't do a bad role for eight months at all in charge of the team. But from the team's statement, it is looking likely that Mattiacci will be leaving the Ferrari organisation after loyally serving them for fifteen years.

And you can understand why Ferrari have chosen to go into this direction with Arrivabene with his experience in the sport which will help Ferrari achieve their aims and objectives in the sport for 2015 and in the near future too. However, you have to feel a bit sorry for Mattiacci who replaced Stefano Domenicali eight months ago and did the best that he could for the team in the process.

But this begs the question; did Ferrari just use Mattiacci to replace Domenicali at the right time until a suitable replacement? I think the answer would have to be yes for me. But it would seem overall from the statement that Ferrari have given to the press yesterday that they believe they have finally got the right man for the role, who has experience in the team and most importantly has experience in Formula One that he can use to his advantage to help Ferrari get back to the front of the sport once again.

And let's hope that is the case for Ferrari because if it's one thing we've learnt from their restructuring programme, they will not take anymore excuses and will replace personnel who cannot fulfil their potential as Domenicali and now Mattiacci know all too well.