It’s expected that Ferrari will confirm the appointment of Bob Bell as it looks to bolster its technical team in the hope of returning to the front of the grid in 2015.
Bell, who currently works for Mercedes on “non-F1 projects” after resigning as technical director in December last year, would be a good fit for the Italian team as not only has he worked with Fernando Alonso and James Allison in the past, but he is also aware of the inner-workings at the Silver Arrows.
Journalist Adam Cooper suggests Bell might sit directly under team principal Marco Mattiacci and work with Allison on developing the ’15 car.
However some believe Bell might even take over from Mattiacci in the not too distant future. Mattiacci has only been in the role of team principal since April, but many saw the move as an initiation, to learn the ways of Ferrari before eventually taking over Luca di Montezemolo’s role as chairman of the company.
With Ferrari’s parent company Fiat taking over Chrysler using large amounts of debt to finance the deal, it has been suggested Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne – who recently criticised Di Montezemolo – is looking to float Ferrari in order to raise finance to repay the debt, an idea Di Montezemolo is strongly against.
Mattiacci, now that he’s been in charge of both the American road car business and the F1 team for a few months, now understands how Ferrari works on both the commercial and sporting sides and is therefore better placed to take over as chairman. He also fits Marchionne’s long-term vision for the company.
