Clear: Ferrari will miss Allison's talents

The Italian outfit announced last week that it had agreed to part ways with Allison with immediate effect.

The news comes against the background of the personal tragedy that the Briton suffered earlier this year with the death of his wife.

Clear admitted that losing Allison was going to have an impact on the team, and that extra effort was going to have to be made to help his replacement Binotto.

“Obviously you’re not going to find losing someone like James Allison – someone of his calibre is not going to go unnoticed,” he said. “So the team is going to have to work pretty hard to support everybody and cover those gaps.

“In that respect, Mattia is going to need help from everybody. We’re going to have to pull together. I don’t think there is any suggestion that Mattia is going to immediately step into the kind of role James was doing – very different background.

“But the fact is Ferrari has to move forward and we have to make the most of this situation as it is, and I know everybody is committed to pulling together and covering any of those areas where James was very, very strong, and he will be missed, but that’s the challenge for us.”

Personal impact

Clear said that the difficult time that Allison has experienced this year had a huge impact on the whole of Ferrari.

“I started in January and this half of the season has been, as you see now, dominated by tragic events in March and that affected all of us – affected us emotionally, affected us practically,” he said.

“So I certainly don’t think I’ve seen Ferrari in the most enjoyable light, if you see what I mean, with that shadow hanging over us.

“But what I have seen is a very motivated group of guys, a very motivated team, a very passionate team, and an unbelievable will to win.

"As I’ve said recently, that passion can sometimes be our Achilles' heel, it can sometimes be something that holds us back, but overall that passion is what is going to get us over the finish line, that passion is what drives people in Ferrari day by day.

“However tough things are, we rely on that and that’s the biggest factor for me, that’s the biggest eye opener for me, just the sheer passion running all the way through the company, it’s fantastic.”