Ferrari's new head of aerodynamics revealed in a LinkedIn post

It has emerged that Ferrari have appointed Diego Tondi as their new Head of Aerodynamics after the Italian engineer had announced it in a LinkedIn post. F1Technical’s lead journalist Balazs Szabo reports on Ferrari’s latest tweak to its F1 technical department.

A day after the British Grand Prix, Ferrari confirmed the departure of their chassis technical director Enrico Cardile, with Italian elected to join Aston Martin next year.

Since the beginning of 2021, he has been the head of the Chassis Department. He continued in this role while also appointed Technical Director - Chassis and Aerodynamics in 2023.

Following the announcement of Cardile’’s looming departure, Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur hinted that the Maranello-based outfit will announce recruitments after the summer break.

The first change has already been announced by Diego Tondi himself, who, through a post on the social network LinkedIn, revealed his promotion to Head of Aerodynamics within the Maranello team.

In a short LinkedIn post, Tondi announced the assumption of his new role. “I hold a new job position: Head of Aerodynamics!” he wrote.

Diego Tondi graduated from the University of Pisa in aerospace engineering with a specialization in aerodynamics. He has been with Ferrari for 15 and a half years, having joined the company in October 2007.

His first job was in the road department, using CFD simulation and the tunnel wind, before moving on already in 2008 to work in the Formula 1 Racing Division, as a test engineer in the wind tunnel, a role he held for two years.

In September 2011, he moved to a new role, starting to work as concept aerodynamicist. His work focused on CFD development on the front end of the car, including front wing, nose, front turning vane, front drum and front suspension.

In January 2014, he was promoted to Deputy Leader of the front end group, overseeing 15 people who worked on the front end of Ferrari’s F1 car that was raced by Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. In June of the same year, he was promoted to the leader of that group, and held this position for for years.

Four years later, he became the new car and concept team group leader before becoming Principal Aerodynamicis. In this role, he was responsible for supporting the Head of Aero Development for day to day management of the development.

In January 2021, he became Head of aerodynamic development, and Tondi has now confirmed that he was moved to the position of Head of Aerodynamics.