Marchionne insists Sassi was not a 'phenomenon'

Marchionne insists Sassi was not a 'phenomenon'

Originally written by Joas van Wingerden. This version is a translation.

Wednesday 3 January 2018 13:25

Ferrari's Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne has insisted that the Scuderia have not particularly missed the talents of their former chief engineer Lorenzo Sassi, who has now moved to Mercedes, and does not know why his former employee is known as a 'phenomenon.'

Marchionne decided to let Sassi go last summer despite the fact that Ferrari's power unit was performing well under Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen in the first part of the 2017 campaign. Sassi was expected to stay with the Prancing Horse in some capacity, but has since opted to join their arch-rivals, Mercedes.

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The Ferrari CEO seems unfazed that Sassi joined the Silver Arrows.

"I don't know who said Sassi is a phenomenon, but I don't remember saying it," Marchionne told Marca.

"What is true is that our problems were not only due to him. Our intention was to keep him in GTs, but unfortunately he decided to leave and continue his career elsewhere.

"For the team it's a normal change and now we have Corrado Iotti and we're fine with him,"

Ferrari have not won a constructor's championship in a decade and continue to play catch-up with Mercedes who have won four team titles in a row. The Scuderia will continue with Vettel and Raikkonen in the driver seat next season, while the Silver Arrows have four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in their ranks.