Mercedes swoops to sign leading Ferrari technical figures

Mercedes has signed two key technical personnel from Ferrari, including former Chief Designer Simone Resta, RacingNews365 can confirm.

Resta - who was placed on secondment to Haas as Technical Director before leaving in January 2024 - will join the Brackley-based squad as strategic development director, and will work closely with James Allison, who returned to lead the technical department in 2023.

Joining Resta at Mercedes will be Enrico Sampo, who will swap his driver simulator role at Ferrari to become head of performance software applications.

As is the usual case when key technical figures move between teams, both Resta and Sampo will enter a period of gardening leave from Ferrari before they are able to start work with Mercedes, which is unlikely to be before 2025.

The news of Resta and Sampo to Mercedes comes after RacingNews365 exclusively revealed that Ferrari had poached Jerome D'Ambrosio from Mercedes.

D'Ambrosio had been an increasingly visible presence in the Mercedes garage, standing alongside Toto Wolff during sessions, but is set to join Ferrari, as is Performance Director Loic Serra.