Iconic Ferrari engineer explains potential key return

Former Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley has signalled he would be open to a return to the team - because of boss Fred Vasseur. 

Smedley initially joined Ferrari in 2004 on the test team before becoming Felipe Massa's race engineer in mid-2006, forming an iconic working relationship before they both departed the Scuderia at the end of 2013.

It was Smedley who delivered the iconic "Felipe baby, stay cool" and "Fernando is faster than you" radio messages to Massa, with the duo heading to Williams for 2014, albeit Smedley was no longer Massa's race engineer, being appointed to a more senior role.

Smedley departed Williams in 2018 and has since entertained multiple offers to return to working full-time for a grand prix squad, but the Briton has detailed at length why Vasseur would make him consider a return to Maranello. 

"I've got a lot of time for Fred and what he is doing," Smedley told the Red Flags podcast. 

"I still get offers from Formula 1 teams and my barometer is always: 'Would I go and work for them?' and I look at someone and think, 'Would I want to go and work for them?'

"There are not many people I would, but Fred is one of them. He is very straight-talking. 

"He brings a lot of humility but what he does is he is very intelligent but he is also very disarming, and I think that's a very good quality to have in a top manager in a pressure cooker environment because he is not piling the pressure on. 

"The top people in Formula 1 who succeed in Formula 1 don't need any more pressure added on. There will be no stronger critic than yourself, and so you don't need anybody from the outside putting more pressure on."

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Vasseur has 'no blame environment' at Ferrari

Smedley went on to explain how Vasseur's transformation of Ferrari's culture was a big draw, and detailed one trait he felt the affable Frenchman has which some rival team bosses do not. 

"When you are in a position of seniority in an F1 team, you have to be seen to be physically looking after your people and say, 'Oh, this is a no blame environment', but then if you fuck up, someone is out the door, but that doesn't work," Smedley continued.

"You've got to say, 'This is a no-blame environment, and when we fuck it up, if you need someone to blame, blame me. I'm in charge. If that is going to make us feel better, blame me, I am in charge.

"Fred is good at that, Fred is good at looking after his people, taking the flak, but he is very intelligent and he knows what is needed to make a successful Formula 1 team. 

"You'd be surprised that not every team principal knows what is needed to make a successful F1 team, but Fred is one of them."