Ferrari Raided As Audi Steals Top Engineers

Ferrari just lost the brains behind some of their best engines of the last decade…to Audi!

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Two of Maranello’s top power-unit gurus (Wolf Zimmermann and Lars Schmidt) are reportedly packing their bags for Audi ahead of the 2026 F1 season…oh goodie. More Ferrari departures. Now WHO are they exactly? Zimmermann masterminded Ferrari’s post-2014 engine revival and led the upcoming 2026 project…that’s who he is! Schmidt follows as his trusted lieutenant meaning Audi now has a ready-made leadership duo under former Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto. It’s been one good news story after another for Audi, hasn’t it?

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Ferrari Raided As Audi Steals Top Engineers

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Oh dear, this is not good for Ferrari. If true, their 2026 project has already met a major roadblock in that two of their key players have left for Audi. And the irony here is painfully obvious. So, it’s come to this. Sala, Ferrari’s longtime F1 partner, even once hosting Schumaca for a test, may have poached yet more engineers. These are really two high-profile characters within the Scooteria and Marinelo for that matter. But for over a decade, one of them has actually been leading the charge in improving Ferrari’s lot during the turbo hybrid era. And now they’re just gone. Audi have managed to pill for them. And guess who’s in charge of the Audi project now? Roto. Yes, it’s my estranged Italian father. Unconfirmed Italian publications have documented the two Ferrari senior engineers have reportedly left the team in recent times. Wolf Zimmerman and L. Schmidt, who have been critical to Ferrari’s engines for the past decade or so, have handed in their notices at Marinelo to become available for the incoming German operation. Well, I mean, it would make sense. Those German sounding names going to work for a German operation. Just talking about national pride here is something to take note of. And of course, it has your old boss as its leader again, Matia Bonato. The signs are very compelling, folks. Matia, the unlikely Ferrari team principal who did a lot better than you might think and did not ask to be team principal. Remember, he was a background figure in the engineering department before he came in for Rea Ben. He’s bringing his engineering bandmates back together for one major concert with four rings on it. So what, L? I don’t know who these two people are. Why should I even care about this? What does it matter to me? Well, if you are a major fan of Ferrari or a member of the Teosi, you should really matter. And even though Fred Versa has been playing this down tremendously, these names have been very important for Ferrari’s lot and losing them is a very big deal. And it makes me really think that Audi could really cook next year. They may not start off fast, but they could soon become fast. Give it a few months. Grandpa.com’s reporting of it effectively had Fred playing it down as a deal and flow of people coming and going. It is an organic part of being in Formula 1. Yeah, sorry Fred. These are not small fry employees here, especially Wolf. He had been brought in by the Scooteria after the first season of the Turbo Hybrid era in 2014, which turned out to be awful. Well, I mean, the car itself was not great. Everyone likening it to some kind of very popular vacuum cleaner brand. And then they were calling in somebody to help out the engine because that didn’t turn out to be much cup either. However, upon Zimmerman’s arrival, Ferrari did improve over time from 2015 through 2019, it was really steadily progressing to the point where Ferrari on paper, when you look at the stats, they had an engine which was better than Mercedes until the FIA realized it was looking a little bit too good and we had the oil burn controversy. I mean, there was no official punishment that followed, but 2020, it felt like the crulest indirect punishment in a way. You know what I mean? But I would say Wol’s stint at Ferrari was defined by two things especially because as I said he was in charge of the 2026 project and also he was one of the key people in coming back from 2020’s Annis Heribilus to then develop the superfast. Italian press credit Wolf as the lead architect behind that engine that underpinned Ferrari’s early 2022 surge. a largely new power unit whose gains were very obvious from the first race and gave the Teosi and Shanlair hope that that year would be their year. I mean, you got to admit the Scooter looked really strong in that first half of the year. Well, I mean, that is until Honda caught up with Red Bull. Red Bull managed to get the weight down on their car and then reliability problems really started to set itself in, really hitting a massive low around Paul Ricard, as many of you may remember. And then in March 2023, Zimmanum was appointed to be leading the 2026 project because understandably come 2022, Red Bull Power Trains have been able to convince the FIA and Formula 1 management to bring in an engine freeze, which means that they could catch up or get themselves ready for 2026. But it meant that in terms of finding performance gains, that was your lot. So with Zimmerman being the major architect of that in terms of performance, you may as well just have him doing something else other than twiddling his thumbs. And as we all know, that engine freeze really condemned Renault and that’s why they are bowing out now. I mean, they couldn’t catch up fast enough due to underinvesting for 2014. And understandably, you might still not be convinced. You may not be really familiar with Wolf Simon’s name, but if you are very familiar in the engine community, that’s the kind of name to make you really stop and take notice and go, “Oh, dang. Okay. All right. Okay. This is interesting.” It’s like with Enrico Card going to Aston Martin for arrow people. Some would even describe him as one of the most interesting names within engineering at this precise moment. And also many people who are Mercedes enthusiasts especially will be looking at that Zimmerman name, seeing it go to Audi, realizing that oh the guy who used to work for them is now working for one of their major rivals in Germany and beyond. Oh, it’s going to be spicy folks. The rivalry between Mercedes and Audi over the next few years, it’s going to be spicy. Who is the best German F1 team? And here is why this is really bad news for Ferrari. Wolf has been steering their engine development, which means he holds the thread of hundreds of small decisions that live between documents. Also, since being appointed the lead engineer of the project, he has been eating, living, breathing this power unit for the last 2 years plus. He hasn’t been working for the current F1 team on a full-time basis since 2023. This engine has been his sole responsibility to make sure that he and the engineers can replicate the superfast performance next season without the reliability trade-off. Ideally, with him going, this is going to be a major blow going into the final few months before we actually go testing with these power units and with these brand new cars. It is going to cause delays, considerable ones at that, right at the end of it all. And maybe it might lead to some risk aversion in trying to make sure that they don’t rock the boat or go vastly off course with the innovation path that maybe Zimmerman left them. And maybe that risk aversion could cause even more delays. And it can also really sting morale since he has been around since the back end of 2014. This isn’t some guy who just drifted in a couple of years ago and then has drifted out again. This has been someone who was brought in by Marinelo to be doing stuff with their road cars. him previously working for the likes of Lotus as their chief technical officer and then previously being in-house at Mercedes for a good few years and he’s also been really instrumental in Ferrari having one of the best engines on the grid at least in terms of outright qualifying pace. Now, of course, Ferrari still has depth and prestige. So, losing Zimmerman isn’t fatal, but considering nobody really knows who’s leading the pack in engine performance right now, the uncertainty is going to breed yet more doubt to crop up amongst their batch of foam. This isn’t an isolated incident either. We have seen many senior figures leaving Ferrari in recent times and this is just yet another example of another key figure leaving at the 11th hour and leaving many of the toosi scratching their heads and going well what happened to the super team that Fred promised us not that long ago. It doesn’t really feel exactly super to us now does it? You know, especially with only Lewis Hamilton just starting to get his groove back. So, okay, let’s talk about why this is really, really good news for Audi. For starters, Wolf and Matia, they know each other. Not only do they know each other, it was Matia that actually got Wolf to come and join Ferrari 11 years ago. La Republica, who also dubbs Wolf as the father of Ferrari engines. So, yeah, can you see what I mean here? Says he arrived from Mercedes at Benato’s request, then worked inside the power unit Group, continuing on when Matier rose to become the F1 team’s boss in 2019. With Matia now officially leading Audi’s F1 project, any move to reunite would be about shared trust and them speaking the same engineering language. And let’s just make this very clear. Ideally, Matier seems like the kind of guy who would rather not be dealing with the media. Well, he would like to deal with the media, but maybe just on his own terms instead of having to be shephered out by Ferrari at every single opportunity. His debut coming when Liberty Media were really starting to remind us all, hey, team principles exist, too. So, let’s put them out there as well as the drivers. And Matier being one of the most introverted team principles in recent memory. Wow, that must have been amazing for him. But that is why you really don’t see him all that often. You see him at some races, but he’s not doing the dayto-day stuff. It’s like he’s just there with his shirt casually observing as Jonathan Weekly does all the day-to-day stuff since he is actually the team principal. And it really helps that Bento has now been given cart blanch by Audi to pretty much run the F1 widget at his own discretion after a couple of years of some really awkward tension between Andreas Cidle and Audi’s previous ambassador representative the likes of Oliver Hoffman. It ended with both men leaving the company and the team in absolutely dire straits. It all started off so well for Valdri and Joe in 2022. That team looked really competitive. And the only thing that really Sidel and Hoffman did well was make people question whether or not Audi were really committed. And Formula 1, oh, they really wanted Audi to commit. They really wanted it to work since they would talk nonstop about Audi joining. But when Andretti’s big came along, which looked really legit, oh, we heard hide nor hair of it on F1’s official website. Interesting. Also, from an engineering point of view, Audi really needs as many engineering wizards on the project as possible. and having Wolf back with his old boss. Oh, that’s absolutely magic. Music to my ears. Honestly, they’re building one from scratch. One with no MGUH. That’s the bit which generates energy from heat given out by the power unit, as well as working on an engine which relies on 50/50 electric petrol combinations which run on solely sustainable fuel. That means you need to make sure everything’s working smoothly on both fronts. When it comes to the electrical side of things, especially remember when KURS was introduced in 2009, some teams didn’t run it. The ones who did saw an advantage and Zimmerman has very very good previous in what he was able to do for Ferrari in getting them back on their feet after 2014 proved to be incredibly mediocre for the Scooteria. In time he was able to steadily improve upon that power unit to not only catch up to Mercedes but to also in some ways actually surpass them until of course the FIA nobled them. So to have that kind of person who was very much at the forefront of innovation at Marinelo, I think that’s an absolutely huge coup. And yes, I am fully aware that Audi’s not starting entirely from scratch. They are buying out the Salva team now owning it lock, stock, and barrel. It is very different to what Cadillac are doing. They are really starting from scratch. But this commitment from Audi is the largest that the Swiss operation has ever seen in its entire living memory. Far more than what BMW was able to provide them. And as we’ve seen in the last couple of seasons, the transformation from being Sala into what we see as the proto Audi, it’s really been a rough one. 2024 especially. But they have come out the other side and they are now back in the midfield and really ready to be in the mix for the hunt for sixth place in the constructors. What with Borletto coming online as one of the most impressive rookies of the season and Nico Hulenberg finally getting his first podium and who knows what else. So going forward with Wolf and Matier working closely in a field which they both thrive in, this is going to matter a lot. Yes, Audi may start off slow, having had to do a lot of growing in a short amount of time, which hasn’t been without its issues whilst you’re having plenty of those. But again, you can develop the engines once more after 3 years of not doing so. And with Zimmerman in charge, if reports are accurate, this is a really big deal for how the engine goes vroom in the years to come. And also, there is a matter of national pride here. Germany is now going to have two Formula One teams. They have now got a German driver in Nico Hulenberg who’s back on good form and they’ve got a sidekick of his which is doing really well. Who knows, they might end up having both of those teams in the upper half of the Formula 1 constructor’s tale. That’s going to cause a lot of internal rivalry when it comes to German television time as well as German sponsors. We’re already seeing that with the Adidas partnership that was announced just a couple of days ago or as I like to call it, Audias. So yeah, Audi could easily challenge Mercedes Monopoly as well as Sting Ferrari for taking away some of their key employees in the engineering department. These people being key personnel at Ferrari while Bonato was in charge, are the Scooteria eventually going to live to regret in letting that man go? Do let me know down in the comments. Should Ferrari really have gotten rid of Matia Bonato when you look back at it? And as for Lars Schmidt, although his name is not nearly as prolific as Wolf Zimmerman, he is still a very important deputy for Zimmerman to bring with him over to Audi. With Lars going with Wolf, it means he actually has a deputy who knows his work processes inside and out. And it means that when Zimmerman starts work properly at Audi, if this turns out to be confirmed, then it means he’s got somebody who can really implement his ideas 100% reliably, it just makes the transition period a lot less uh difficult, less bumpy, and it will ensure continuity with all of the stuff that Zimmerman may have been working on over at Ferrari. Now, before you say anything, no, it’s not a case of Zimmerman just copying what he was doing over at Ferrari. That that’s not how it works here. Otherwise, you’re going to get into some really awkward legal territory. It just means that Ferrari have essentially hit a pause on what Zimmerman did for them. And now Zimmerman can come in and see what Audi’s been up to and then go on from there. And to be fair, bringing in a double act at the same time is what Ferrari did with Mercedes’s Loixer and Jerome Bambrosio to help best implement their own briefs with Jerome being lined up to potentially succeed Toto Wolf going over to the scooter to become Fred’s deputy and Loixer, the new chief technical director for the Ferrari chassis. So whilst Fred is right in that people do come and go from Formula 1 teams, the two men that have gone from his supposed super team were quite important ones for the new regulation cycle. So yes, if this is realized and Audi have indeed been able to raid Ferrari’s engine room yet again, this time with two of its key players for next season and beyond, this is really, really, really good news for them. Yet more good news actually. It’s really been the gravy train for a good few months yet for Audi. And honestly, since Matier was appointed as their leader back at the middle of 2024, it’s been a string of positive stories all around. Really, there’s not really been a really bad one. It’s certainly a far cry from the sidel era from 2023, 2024 when it was nothing but bad news and question marks and what have you. The entire team operation really falling off a cliff after a pretty competitive 2022 campaign where they managed to secure sixth in the constructors only daily though from Aston Martin. 2023 they fell off hard narrowly escaping last in that year’s constructor’s championship before going one better the following year. Arguably, Andreas’ oversight did considerable harm to the careers of both Botas and Joe, two drivers who in their first year at Alfa Romeo were convincing partners and very solid ones to boot. Now though, this year, I would argue that Audi are already here in all but name since they do technically own the Salber group lock and barrel. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. This year and the year before that have really been stepping stones in Audi introducing itself. Not using its name wholesale or even mentioning that Audi is even part of the entire widget. The only semblance of that we’ve had in the media is Audi sponsoring Sky Sports coverage of Formula 1. That’s the graduality of it all that Audi wants us to see. What Audi has been doing in the background the last couple of years has been trying to build up SA’s resources. but under the disguise of the SA name, which means that if times were hard like they were in 2024 all the damn time, then Audi wouldn’t necessarily be attached to it, at least at the casual F1 fans point of view. But since things have been improving and weekly has come online and things have become very apparent that they have learned the mistakes of 2024, then Audi’s more than happy to announce what they’ve been up to, that they are preparing, that what they’ve been doing is sewing the seeds to bear fruit in 2026. Oh, they are really proud of being in Formula 1 as Saba at the moment. I wonder why. They’ve been generating a lot of good hype recently. And quite frankly, they’ve got this ladder man support. Yes, I am going to be supporting Audi in 2026 alongside McLaren. I think it’s very important to be supporting more than just one team, you know, otherwise things get very boring if your favorite team accidentally just finds itself not competing in that Grand Prix. At least you’ve got another team to focus on and go like, “Yay, they did something.” Also, my old man had an Audi Quattro, a white one, an A- regge, and he had to give it up when I came along as the second baby, and I feel really bad about that. So, I feel like this is this is a familial justice in a way that I support Audi, and I simply like what they’re doing at the moment. In my mind, you really should be watching what Bonato and Weekly are doing because Audi are already acting like a works team. This year being the dress rehearsal. They’ve also built real commercial weight in the last few months. For years, we were just looking at the Audi show car. no other logos than just their own and their design language to fill in the gaps. Stake are leaving at the end of this year, thank God, and Revolute are coming in as their new title sponsor, which is a far less controversial name, if not according to many people online, perfect. They’re not exactly perfect, but they’re better than stake. So, okay, cool. They got a title sponsor right out of the gate. Then, of course, we got that Adidas partnership. I still like Audias. I think that’s fantastic. It’s a classic, but that is still a major coup in terms of a major German brand who we all thought was going to be tied solely to Mercedes. That is a really huge deal. And let’s be honest, the Mercedes gear this year, their clobber looks absolutely mint. And Adidas, they’re promising a unique line of their own of Audi stuff. So, interesting news. BP and Castrol, they were with Alpine. They are going to be their fuel and lubricant suppliers, which means they are going to be working closely with the engineering department, the power unit. So these are very very reputable companies although Revolute is still finding its feet in terms of really trying to establish itself in the UK. And then of course whether you like it or not there is the Qatari investment fund. They have actually got their skin in the game with Audi like how McLaren are now essentially owned by the country of Bahrain. Plenty of support I would say including for Formula 1 itself because again the last few years they’ve been talking up Audi saying bringing them in was a really key important step in the 2026 rule set. And on top of that, they’ve been able to get some financial benefits, too. Being able to increase the cost cap, have some special dispensation in regards to Swiss worker rights, and that they get paid more than other countries. Seriously, that news that Audi really liked, the other teams, oh, they did not like that one bit. But it’s not going to be solely based in Switzerland anymore. I think there’s Audi’s Neyberg. Sorry if I butcher the pronunciation. There’s that. And in Bista in the UK, they are building a new department there. So, they’re spreading themselves over the entirety of Western Europe. That means they can really cover all their bases. And seriously, having a UK base not that far from Silverstone in Motorsport Valley, that was a really solid shout. Really good idea. And I wouldn’t be surprised in the not too distant future that Ferrari ended up doing the same thing again. They used to have one with John Barnard, but they got rid of it and they were like, “Ph, Mama Mia, I’m glad we don’t do that anymore.” You know, working within Motorsport Valley. No, no, Italy traditions. And one thing I’ve really noticed time and time again is that people are really waking up to Audi after sleeping on them the last few years. I I guess maybe it’s just down to the imminency of them arriving that people are starting to take notice, but I think it’s also that there’s a story behind them now and they’re going somewhere. You got two human-shaped ones in the car especially, as well as results to point at go holy moly. And Wheatley says the transition is already bearing fruit and that the group can be winners. I mean, they already got on the podium, so that’s ahead of schedule. Yeah, that achievement of Nikos really helps the story. He arrived on a multi-year deal from H. A deal which I remember got many, many groans from up and down the community as well as a cause for concern since, well, last year they weren’t really doing well at all. And Hulkenberg did try and brush it off. And you only have to look back at what he was doing at H. He was having a really strong renaissance with them. And he wasn’t afraid to grab that team by the balls and say, “Hey, get your ruddy act together.” This being the final year of them being with Gfersteiner, the Austin upgrade, the infamous one turning out to not work at all so badly that Nico didn’t use it for the rest of the year. Yeah, he was really a beacon of hope for that team alongside Kmag. And then 2024 turned out to be a really strong year for him to the point where he could be messing around with Czecho at the Austrian Grand Prix just cuz he could. And as for Gabrielle Bortleta, my goodness, just just look at the uptick from the Red Bull ring. Going from being a rookie who many wrote off as being unspectacular and destined for aminity at the back for the year, he’s instead become a very popular figure. One of the most impressive rookies alongside Isaac Hajar this season and also becoming a little bit of a sidekick to one Max Sappen even away from the track. He’s also brought Brazil back to the grid full-time for the first time since 2017. And he’s brought a great chunk of points along the way. This isn’t just some hapless rookie or anything like that. No, Gabrielle’s got plenty of points to his name now, as well as many impressive Q3 appearances, outshining Hulenberg in that department, surprisingly, shockingly even. And it really just makes you think about what this man is representing. This is going to be a really good time for Brazilian supporters. As well as when Raphael Kamar arrives because come on, he’s destined for Formula 1. He completely cate Formula 3. Yeah, it’s a great time to be eating if you’re a Brazilian fan and you’re in Formula 1. It’s been too long without them, honestly. And hey, Ed and Senna really did like Audi cars back in the day. So, hey, maybe this was a sign. Borletto and Audi. Yeah, Gabby, Nico. Oh, that’s a really easy driver pairing to market. Absolutely easy. One of the easiest, in fact. So, when you put that together with the Zimmerman news, Audi’s really looking like a serious long-term play. The leadership’s first rate having already proved it at Red Bull and Ferrari respectively. The commercial partners are coming in thick and fast, and they’re really good ones, as well as the facilities coming online. All of this with a driver duo who are thriving and we’re seeing masses of upside from them already with this team already having 50 points plus. That’s crazy considering last year they only had four of them. Yeah, 2026 with that brand new power unit may be a bit of a side step or they may fall backwards again. They may be last. They may be fifth or sixth. Who knows? But from one thing we can tell is that in terms of looking like a Formula 1 team instead of just a hapless bunch of misfits, oh, they don’t look like that anymore. They’ve got their ducks in a row. They know what they’re doing. I have long-term confidence that their performance will be good. Whereas Ferrari, I don’t think they’ll be happy with this news. But what you will be happy with the news is that this video right here is something that I think you’ll really like. And I’ll see you over there. Just got to go and change my top. Be right with you.