THE FERRARI F2007
T he year 2007 was the beginning of a new era for Ferrari after the senior personnel that had done so much to effect a turnaround in the late 1990s – team principal Jean Todt, technical director Ross Brawn, chief designer Rory Byrne and multiple champion Michael Schumacher – moved on. All was not happy behind the scenes:
Todt, disgruntled that Ferrari president Luca di
Montezemolo had unilaterally decided to hire Kimi Räikkönen and shove Schumacher into premature retirement, was stepping aside to consider his options elsewhere; Brawn, who held ambitions to be team principal but knew he would never reach that post at Ferrari, was taking a sabbatical; and Byrne was retiring to Thailand to set up a scuba diving school.
Brawn had prepared for his departure exquisitely, though, leaving experienced personnel schooled in his methodologies. Byrne’s long-time deputy, Aldo Costa, took over as head of design while Nikolas Tombazis, recently returned after a stint at McLaren, slotted in
