Laurent Mekies will be the Ferrari new sporting director. The ex-FIA safety and deputy race director is present and working with the team at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Ferrari initially confirmed Mekies to an unspecified technical role and due to report to Ferrari’s technical director Mattia Binotto.
However, team principal Maurizio Arrivabene now said Mekies – the first bespoke sporting director since Massimo Rivola in 2016.
It could be part of the planned staffing reshuffle that will include senior engineer and head of race activities Jock Clear moving into a race-engineer role for incoming rising star Charles Leclerc.
Mekies joined the FIA in October 2014 as safety director and has worked on safety matters across all championships as well as R&D and homologation activities.
“Laurent is perfectly matching the strengths that are requested as a sporting director. And that is why he is going to take this role next year,” said Arrivabene.
Maurizio also said the team needed to develop a victorious habit, and stressed that again when challenged on the vagueness of that goal on Friday in Abu Dhabi.
“We need to win enough to win the championship. Of course then it depends on the performance of the other teams.
The habit to win is very simple. If you are doing one-two then it doesn’t have to be an exceptional event it has to be habit. That way it changes your mentality from a fighter to a winner.
