Stefano Domenicali will apparently be the new CEO of Formula 1 from January 1, 2021. Born in Imola, Italy in 1965 and trained at the University of Bologna, the business economist and CEO of the Volkswagen subsidiary Lamborghini based in Sant’Agata is to be the successor to the American Chase Carey . Carey had led the world’s most important motorsport series since 2017 as part of its takeover by the media group Liberty Media as the successor to the decades-long rights holder and Formula 1 conductor Bernie Ecclestone.
Domenicali had fallen out with the then Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo during his time as a promoter, in the summer of 2014, and gave up his position as race director at Scuderia Ferrari. His successors at the head of the most traditional racing team in Formula 1 did not achieve what Domenicali had achieved early on, in his first year in succession to Jean Todt, in his role as team manager: winning a world championship title that the designers won in 2008. The Brazilian was then Felipe Massa was only beaten by Lewis Hamilton in the last race in the Drivers’ Championship. No further titles were added in the following years, in 2010 Fernando Alonso, who had been leading in the World Cup, lost the title in the last Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull.
New tasks
After leaving Formula 1, Domenicali initially worked in senior management at the Audi Group in Ingolstadt. There he prepared Audi’s entry into Formula 1 until the project was canceled. The former basketball player then worked as head of Ferrari competitor Lamborghini. Its founder, the tractor manufacturer Ferruccio Lamborghini, turned to one of the most famous anecdotes in Italian mechanical engineering only because he was annoyed with his privately driven Ferrari. Domenicali heads the Monoposto Commission at the International Automobile Federation Fia.
Domenicali will take up his position on the board against the background of Carey’s significant success as a Formula 1 board member: A few weeks ago, all the racing teams signed the so-called Concorde Agreement, the basic contract for the series up to and including the 2025 season. Mercedes, the team that has dominated the competition for years, had stipulated an exit clause at the end of each year.
In addition, Domenicali takes on his role in an environment in which many of the people who shaped Formula 1 during his time at Ferrari play important roles: Jean Todt, whose sports director Domenicali was at Ferrari before being promoted to race director, is President of the Fia, so that the racing series and the rulers are led by former Ferrari team bosses. Ross Brawn, a successful engineer from the Schumacher era at Scuderia, is sports director of Formula 1 – and even his long-time number one driver Alonso is making his comeback next season: at Renault.
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