The story of Budkowski, McLaren and Ferrari

A tip made the rounds mid December and it came to my ears as well. Marcin Budkowski was on his way to Ferrari, the tip mentioned. Marcin started his F1 career at Prost Grand Prix in 2001 when he was appointed as Aerodynamicist. He stayed there briefly and then he moved to Maranello when he left around October 2007. His next step was McLaren. He currently holds the position of Project Leader of Aerodynamic Development. The move in 2007 also grabbed the attention of the media.

Almost 4 days ago Omnicorse had a report telling that he is on his way to Maranello, following the steps of other engineers that took the same route. The nod seemed to be also the quotes of Montezemolo telling that Italy hasn’t been famous on making aerodynamicists but mechanical engineers and that’s why they are going shopping in England.

I got in touch with McLaren and Jonathan Neale (Managing Director at McLaren) commented on the situation: "As a forward-thinking and modernist management team, we try always to recognize the individual needs of our people. Martin isn’t the first to choose to take a well-earned sabbatical or career break from Formula 1, and neither will he be the last. When he returns to work later this year, he’ll pick up the challenge with us with renewed energy."

So he is indeed in a career break or sabbatical, but he isn’t going to Ferrari. The least I can say is that this is a very interesting way of management …