Changes? Let's start today! - Ascanelli

Giorgio Ascanelli, our new technical director wasted no time in making his mark in the paddock, even though he has only been a Scuderia Toro Rosso man for 72 hours. Older members of the media who turned up for a press call with the Italian, who has joined use from Maserati, soon remembered how entertaining Giorgio used to be in his days with McLaren and Ferrari.

“I came back to F1 to work with friends,” said the man who was nicknamed Pav by the McLaren crew, short for Pavarotti because of his not insignificant physical presence and resemblance to the famous opera singer. “I might be a bit out of touch, but I am not afraid.” As for the reasons behind switching from Maserati’s sports car programme, the Italian said he just fancied a ew challenge, after turning the cars with the famous Trident emblem into a winning machine, having started the entire programme from scratch. “You know, when I left Ferrari for the second time back in ’89, I thought I had made a change for life. That’s the trouble, I always seem to make changes that I think are for life but then I change my mind!”

Ascanelli hasn’t taken long to get back to his hands-on self in the garage. “Already this morning, I was lying under the car in the garage and you know what? The floor still doesn’t fit,” he joked. Asked what was the biggest change he had noticed in F1 since his last appearance in the paddock almost a decade ago, he replied: “the motorhomes are bigger,” which is a strange comment to make given there are no motorhomes at races outside Europe. Asked by one of the press when he was likely to make changes, instead of the usual platitudes about adopting a watching brief at first, Ascanelli fired back a one word answer: “Today!”