Todt Kicked Upstairs at Ferrari

With the breakdown in negotiations with Ross Brawn, Ferrari has moved quickly to reorganize the team.

Jean Todt has been promoted to a management position. He had been under fire from Luca De Motezemolo for the team's poor start to 2007, and although Kimi Raikkonen secured the World Championship in the final race in Brazil, it was mostly because Lewis Hamilton made some rookie mistakes coming down to the wire that handed the cup to Kimi.

Another issue that erupted during the year was the breakdown of the Ferrari wind tunnel, which cost them 3 weeks of development mid-season, when McLaren was beating them regularly. It was believed that poor maintenance was the cause, and De Montezemolo blamed Todt for the failure.

Todt is being replaced with Stefano Domenicali, who was Todt's second in command and Sporting Director for the team. He is very respected, and has been looking to move up in the team.

Todt has been unavailable for comment, which is never a good sign. Look to him to tow the company line for a few months, then retire after the New Year.

Also up in the air is the future of Felipe Massa, who recently re-upped with Ferrari for 3 more years. He is managed by Todt's son, and some speculate that Todt did a deal with Massa without De Motezemolo's knowledge; leading to the break. Ferrari may yet deal Massa to Toyota, as they were not happy with his lack of consistency this season.