French Loic Serra To Join Ferrari As New Chassis Technical Director
Ferrari has confirmed that Loic Serra will step in as their new Chassis Technical Director starting October 1st.
The French engineer, currently at Mercedes, was originally set to join Ferrari under Enrico Cardile, who led the chassis department. However, with Cardile's departure to Aston Martin in July, Serra will now report directly to Ferrari's team principal, Frederic Vasseur.
Cardile’s exit from Ferrari has led to several structural changes. Serra will now oversee various key areas including Chassis Project Engineering, Vehicle Performance, Aerodynamics, and Track Engineering, among others. These departments are critical to Ferrari's efforts to improve their car's on-track results after a mixed season so far.
Serra brings years of experience, having worked at Mercedes since 2010 and rose to Performance Director in 2019. He also had stints at BMW Sauber before joining Mercedes after BMW's exit from Formula 1. Ferrari hopes his expertise will help strengthen their technical team as they continue to refine their car's performance.
Vasseur had temporarily taken over the chassis responsibilities after Cardile's departure, and his reassessment of Ferrari’s technical setup resulted in Serra’s promotion from his originally planned role of head of chassis performance engineering. The Frenchman now faces the challenge of helping Ferrari regain consistency after aerodynamic issues plagued their performance earlier in the year.
Serra's arrival at Ferrari coincides with other major personnel changes in the sport. His former Mercedes colleague, Lewis Hamilton, is set to join Ferrari next year, further adding intrigue to the team’s future. Additionally, Adrian Newey, the legendary designer from Red Bull, was in talks with Ferrari earlier this year but is now expected to join Aston Martin instead.
The announcement follows a morale-boosting victory at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Charles Leclerc took the win, marking a high point for the Scuderia on home soil. The victory came after Ferrari introduced updates to their car's floor, aimed at fixing aerodynamic instabilities that had affected their competitiveness during the summer.
Despite these improvements, Ferrari remains third in the constructors’ standings, trailing McLaren and Red Bull. Leclerc, meanwhile, sits third in the drivers’ championship, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris. While the Monza win was a positive sign, Ferrari has cautioned that further races will be needed to see if their aerodynamic fixes truly resolve the car’s performance issues.
With Serra’s appointment and Hamilton’s upcoming arrival, Ferrari seems determined to restructure and strengthen their team to compete at the highest level. The Scuderia will be hoping these moves will help them challenge Red Bull and McLaren more consistently in the races to come.
