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Mercedes suffered another major blow as two key members, Loic Serra and Jerome D'Ambrosio, have followed Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari. Serra will be the head of chassis performance engineering, while Jerome will be a deputy team principal and the head of Ferrari's junior development program.
This is a major blow for Mercedes as Jerome D'Ambrosio was earmarked as Toto Wolff's successor once the latter steps down. Loic Serra has also been a crucial part of the team for a while and if you compound the impact of their departures with Lewis Hamilton also leaving, this is major news.
Ever since Lewis Hamilton announced his departure from Mercedes, there had been rumors that the driver was not going to leave alone. Fellow team members were rumored to make their way to Ferrari. Both Serra and Jerome's names were on top of the list of personnel expected to leave but the reports were still not reliable.
In a press release announcing the arrival of the above two, Ferrari stated:
"Loic Serra takes on the role of Head of Chassis Performance Engineering, reporting to Enrico Cardile, overseeing various areas in Maranello, including Track Engineering, Aero Development, Aero Operations and Vehicle Performance. Loic was born in France in 1972 and has a degree in mechanical engineering after studying in Aix-en-Provence and Paris. After university, he worked for Michelin and then the BMW-Sauber and Mercedes AMG Formula 1 teams."
For Jerome, the statement read:
"Jerome d’Ambrosio joins in the role of Deputy Team Principal, reporting directly to Fred Vasseur. D’Ambrosio is also appointed Head of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, the Maranello marque’s young driver programme. Jerome was born in Belgium in 1985 and was a professional racing driver up until 2020. His palmares includes a win in GP2, three in Formula E and he also drove in 20 Formula 1 Grands Prix from 2011 to 2012. At Mercedes, he worked alongside Team Principal Toto Wolff and ran the Stuttgart firm’s young driver programme."
This announcement puts Mercedes boss Toto Wolff under even more pressure as the team continues to lose resources.
Lewis Hamilton not leaving due to relationship issues
Lewis Hamilton talked about his departure from Mercedes with CBS News where he made it a point to explain that he wasn't leaving due to any relationship issues. The driver had been part of the team since 2013 and had extended his contract only last summer.
Lewis Hamilton won 6 world titles with the team and it was thus surprising that the driver opted to cut his contract short and move to Ferrari for the 2025 season. Talking about his departure, Lewis explained that this was not due to relationship issues. He said:
"For me, this whole journey has been massively emotional. Just because I have so much love for this team. I'm not leaving because I'm unhappy there. I'm not leaving because of relationship issues. They've been with me through thick and thin. So, it's definitely a strange transition at the moment."
Lewis is trying to emulate what Michael Schumacher achieved at Ferrari in the 2000s. If he's able to accomplish it, the legacy that he has will be very impressive.
