Breaking news

Formula 1

Alfa Romeo F1 tech chief Resta to return to Ferrari

Alfa Romeo technical director Simone Resta will leave the team at the end of the month to rejoin his ex-Formula 1 employer Ferrari.

Scott Mitchell

Scott Mitchell

Edited: Jul 17, 2019, 2:38 PM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Beat Zehnder, Sauber Manager and Simone Resta, Sauber Designer

Resta joined Alfa one year ago when it was entered in F1 as Sauber, after establishing himself as an important part of Ferrari's design team.

Heading up Sauber/Alfa’s technical department gave Resta more responsibility and experience but it was not expected to be a long-term appointment.

Alfa has now announced Resta will leave the team at the end of July, with current head of aerodynamics Jan Monchaux promoted to technical director in his place. There was no mention of Resta’s future and has been no communication from Ferrari, but he is understood to be returning to the Maranello team.

Gardening leave requirements mean he will not join the F1 operation this season, but may work on Ferrari’s road-car business before the end of 2019.

The F1 role Resta will take is unknown, him having previously worked as Ferrari's head of vehicle project coordination and fulfilling the responsibilities of chief designer.

Ferrari’s set-up is very different to when Resta left the team and his responsibilities were taken on by his deputy Fabio Montecchi, chief aerodynamicist David Sanchez and former Ferrari GT aero man Enrico Cardile.

Ex-chief technical officer Mattia Binotto is now Ferrari team principal and his previous position was not directly replaced, which could allow Resta to take on senior technical responsibilities. Sanchez and powertrain head Corrado Iotti presently support Binotto on the technical side at the factory.

When rumours emerged linking Resta with a return to the team after Ferrari’s difficult start to the season, Binotto admitted that “we are evaluating him to be back at a certain stage”.

Alfa team boss Frederic Vasseur thanked Resta for the role he played in its rapid progress from the back of the F1 grid to becoming a regular point-scoring team.

 Jan Monchaux, Head of Aerodynamics, Alfa Romeo Racing

Jan Monchaux, Head of Aerodynamics, Alfa Romeo Racing

Photo by: Sauber F1 Team

Meanwhile, Monchaux’s succession of Resta at Alfa is a natural move for the ex-Ferrari and Toyota F1 aerodynamicist.

Like Resta, he joined in 2018 when the team was operating under the Sauber name, becoming head of aero after fulfilling the role at Audi for its LMP1 programme.

“I want to thank Simone for his contribution to the progression of the team and I wish him all the best for his future appointments,” said Vasseur. “As for Jan, I am delighted to have him step up to the role of technical director.

“He has done a brilliant job so far and I am confident he will be able to lead our technical group as the team continues its upward journey.”

Monchaux added: “The owners, board and team principal are sending a simple but strong message to the whole company – they value continuity and believe in the existing team and the work we have been doing. It is now up to us to prove them right, but I am convinced our future is bright.”

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article Hulkenberg: Renault "left points on the table" at Silverstone

Next article Leclerc says he raced Verstappen "harder than normal"

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Scott Mitchell



Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur

Formula 1

Formula 1

Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur



Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'

Formula 1

Formula 1

Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'



Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari

Formula 1

Formula 1

Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari

More from

Alfa Romeo



What F1 history tells us about three-way title deciders

Formula 1

Formula 1

Abu Dhabi GP

What F1 history tells us about three-way title deciders



F1 cars from 1950 to 2025: Alfa Romeo 158 vs McLaren MCL39

Formula 1

Formula 1

F1 cars from 1950 to 2025: Alfa Romeo 158 vs McLaren MCL39



F1 reserve drivers: All the back-up racers for 2025

Formula 1

Formula 1

F1 reserve drivers: All the back-up racers for 2025

Latest news



How levelling the playing field isn’t antithetical to the principles of F1

Formula 1

How levelling the playing field isn’t antithetical to the principles of F1



The closest finish in MotoGP history: Toni Elias over Valentino Rossi 20 years ago

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Portuguese GP

53 min

The closest finish in MotoGP history: Toni Elias over Valentino Rossi 20 years ago



When will Mercedes become F1 world champions in 2026?

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

1 h

When will Mercedes become F1 world champions in 2026?



Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix

NASCAR O'Reilly

NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly

Phoenix II

7 h

Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix

Feature

Discover prime content



How levelling the playing field isn’t antithetical to the principles of F1

Formula 1

By Pat Symonds

How levelling the playing field isn’t antithetical to the principles of F1



Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027



Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense

Formula 1

By Kevin Turner

Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense



Why Christian Horner sees history repeating itself for Adrian Newey at Aston Martin

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Ronald Vording

Why Christian Horner sees history repeating itself for Adrian Newey at Aston Martin

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe