Ferrari's sporting director Massimo Rivola has confirmed he will leave the F1 team to head up the Italian outfit's young driver programme.
Rivola will replace Luca Baldisserri, who has left his Ferrari Driver Acadamy (FDA) role to follow young Canadian driver to a development position at Williams. Rivola joined Ferrari in 2009 after a four years as sporting director of Minardi and then Toro Rosso, the team it became in 2006.
His tenure in F1 stretches back to a marketing job with Minardi in 1998 and during his time at the Faenza-based team he worked with future Ferrari stars Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel in the early days of their careers. The 44-year-old confirmed the switch in a letter written to Ferrari's fans.
"The rumours which have been circulating for a while are true, but I wanted you to be the first to know officially from me what Ferrari has decided: after 18 years of F1, of which 12 have been on the pit wall, it's time to make a pit stop," he wrote. "Motivated by a great professional challenge, along with the company, I have decided to take care of the renewal of the Ferrari Driver Academy. The farewell of a driver as symbolic as Jules [Bianchi] is the spark that means that today it is a real 'mission'.
"Also thanks to my previous experience, I was fortunate to work with many drivers and to do so when they were young, like Sebastian [Vettel] and Fernando [Alonso] to name a few. To think that the champions of tomorrow for Ferrari will grow in the Academy is just amazing. I have always supported thinking of the young, the Ferrarista of the future, and now we have one more tool to do it together."
Italian Antonio Fuoco and China's Guan Yu Zhou are the only drivers currently listed on the academy website. GP2 driver Raffaele Marciello is expected to be confirmed as dropped from the academy this year, with Charles Leclerc, European Formula 3's top rookie last year, tipped to replace him.