Sanchez’s departure comes at an unexpected and bad time as the season has just started. The opening race in Bahrain was also disappointing for Ferrari. Charles Leclerc retired with technical problems the team had not encountered before. Carlos Sainz finished fourth.
Ferrari will need to evolve internally within the technical direction, as finding a replacement for this key position outside of Ferrari will not be easy.
New team boss Frederic Vasseur said before the start of the season that a lot of work had been done on the Ferrari in winter to make the car more reliable. “That aspect could be better, it was no secret. I think we are in good shape because we were already among the best in terms of speed last year,” he said. Ferrari last won the world title in 2007.