Who is Stefano Domenicali? He is a former Ferrari man so to speak. He started his career at Ferrari in 1991, straight out of University, and worked his way to up the corporate ladder to become the team principal of Scuderia Ferrari in 2008. And in that same year, he managed to claim the constructor’s and driver’s championship with Kimi Raikkonen. Under his leadership, the team came close to winning the F1 championship on at least two more occasions, largely due to Fernando Alonso elevating an uncompetitive car to a race-winning position.
Domenicali resigned as Ferrari team principal in 2014 after a disagreement with then-president Luca di Montezemolo. The Italian was subsequently hired by Audi and then moved over to Lamborghini in 2016 to become the CEO. The FIA, Formula One’s governing body, has not yet confirmed the appointment.
The current CEO and Chairman of Formula One, Chase Carey, is expected to move sideways into a sole Chairmanship role. Carey became the CEO and Chairman of F1 in 2017 when Liberty Media acquired the entire business entity of Formula One from Bernie Ecclestone.
If Stefano Domenicali is confirmed as the new boss of F1 then Formula One will effectively be run by former Ferrari employees. Jean Todt is the President of the FIA, Ross Brawn is the Managing Director of Formula 1 and now Domenicali who is almost certain to assume his role as F1 CEO. All are former Ferrari F1 men.
Will it be one for all and all for Ferrari? Privately among F1 team bosses, there will be concerns that Ferrari could get preferential treatment. Nevertheless, Only time will tell.