Stefano Domenicali has resigned from his position as team principal of the Ferrari Formula One team with immediate effect.
He will be replaced by Marco Mattiacci, currently president and CEO of Ferrari North America.
Ferrari have made a disappointing start to the 2014 season, with neither Fernando Alonso nor Kimi Raikkonen scoring a podium over the first three races. In a statement, Domenicali said he "takes responsibility" for the "situation Ferrari are experiencing".
Domenicali joined Ferrari in 1991 and after a series of promotions was appointed sporting director in 2003, when Michael Schumacher took the fourth of his five straight world championship crowns with the team. He then took over from Jean Todt as team principal ahead of the 2008 season.
The team secured the constructors’ championship in Domenicali’s first year in charge, but have since failed to clinch the drivers’ crown despite several near misses.
Felipe Massa famously lost the 2008 championship to Lewis Hamilton on the final corner of the final round, while Alonso was beaten by Sebastian Vettel in final-race title showdowns in both 2010 and 2012.
The advent of Formula One’s new 2014 rules had offered Ferrari a chance to return to the very top of the sport, but a lacklustre start to the season was compounded by Alonso and Raikkonen fighting at the lower fringes of the top ten in Bahrain, with Ferrari’s power unit struggling to match that of Mercedes.
Mattiacci joined Ferrari in 1999 and was president and CEO of Ferrari Asia Pacific for four years before his move to the corresponding position for the North American market.
(source: f1.com)
