Exclusive: Ferrari poach potential Wolff successor from Mercedes

Jerome D'Ambrosio is to join Ferrari from Mercedes, RacingNews365 has learned.

Early last year, D'Ambrosio was seen in the Mercedes pits, working with the team on an informal basis before being appointed as its driver development director 12 months ago.

D'Ambrosio primarily looked after the young drivers on Mercedes roster competing in the various series globally.

The 38-year-old Belgian, who raced in Formula 1 in 2011 for Marussia Virgin Racing before a one-off outing with Lotus in 2012, was also viewed as a potential successor to Toto Wolff as team principal in the future.

D'Ambrosio had previously been a deputy team principal with Venturi Racing over the 2020-21 season, before stepping up to take over the reins for the following campaign. He moved into a managerial role after six seasons as a driver in Formula E.

During his time with Mercedes, D'Ambrosio was frequently seen at Wolff's shoulder at times during grand prix weekends.

Midway through the season, Wolff confirmed D'Ambrosio would serve as team principal at races he did not attend, leading to the latter replacing the Austrian at the Japanese and Qatar Grands Prix after he underwent knee surgery.

But after just a year in the role, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has again lured a key figure away from Mercedes and good friend Wolff.

At the start of February, Vasseur and Ferrari stunned F1 when they confirmed seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton would join the Scuderia in 2025 as team-mate to Charles Leclerc.

Now the Frenchman has poached D'Ambrosio. At this stage, it is unknown when he will start or what position he will hold.