{"id":189260,"date":"2019-01-07T16:40:26","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T16:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/opinion\/arrivabene-the-man-with-few-friends-at-ferrari\/"},"modified":"2019-10-21T15:55:48","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T14:55:48","slug":"arrivabene-man-few-friends-ferrari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/articles\/single-seaters\/f1\/arrivabene-man-few-friends-ferrari\/","title":{"rendered":"Arrivabene: the man with few friends at Ferrari"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where did Maurizio Arrivabene go wrong as Ferrari Formula 1 team boss, and what legacy does he leave?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Arrivabene<\/p>\n

Maurizio Arrivabene\u2019s dismissal from the role of Ferrari team principal was logical. He was not the right man for the job \u2013 and was of less value to the team than Mattia Binotto who may well have been lost to Ferrari if Arrivabene had stayed on as his boss.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say it was expected. The impetus to action it was a decisive one and came from a Chairman, John Elkann, only a few months into the role.<\/p>\n

Reports elsewhere suggesting Arrivabene\u2019s firing was initiated by MD Louis Camilleri are believed to be wide of the mark, incidentally, and we understand that Camilleri\u2019s position is itself still under review.<\/p>\n

What did Arrivabene do wrong? He lacked the ability to lead and inspire. What he saw as leadership, many of those around him took as bullying. He had a similar relationship with the media, deploying an outright offensive manner that gained him few friends there.<\/p>\n

So we eventually arrived at the position in 2018 where the worst race team was running the best car<\/p>\n

He covered up his lack of detailed understanding with dismissive and aggressive responses. He didn\u2019t seem to even understand what it was he was not understanding. At first I took it as a language barrier, but in time I came to know that it wasn\u2019t \u2013 and that he expressed himself in much the same way in his native tongue. He appreciated questions from those around him about as much as he did from the media.<\/p>\n

He was an autocrat to those below him but without the inspirational qualities to compensate. He was a \u2018yes sir, three bags full sir\u2019 guy to those above him.<\/p>\n

Arrivabene was in the wrong job \u2013 something that Sergio Marchionne had come to realise after having plucked him from Philip Morris.<\/p>\n

The late chairman had planned the exact change that has just happened and had informed the board of it. Hence Elkann is only doing what Marchionne had planned (just as with the hiring of Charles Leclerc in place of Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen), even though he wasn\u2019t beholden to it after Marchionne\u2019s sudden passing.<\/p>\n

During last year\u2019s Chinese Grand Prix weekend the renowned F1 technical illustrator Giorgio Piola photographed the steering wheel that Sebastian Vettel had placed atop of the Ferrari\u2019s cockpit when in the pitlane.<\/p>\n

Piola then drew the wheel and wrote about the extra control that it featured.<\/p>\n

The following day Arrivabene accosted Piola, growling menaces at him. The incident gave a good measure of the man.<\/p>\n

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More:<\/big><\/p>\n