Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne has stuck by his decision to initiate a mid-season overhaul of the team's technical department, which saw James Allison leave in August.
Following a series of high-level crisis meetings chaired by Marchionne, Ferrari parted ways with technical director Allison and promoted Mattia Binotto from the team's engine department as his replacement. In a season where the famous Italian marque failed to secure a single victory, Binotto set about reorganising the technical departments at Maranello and Marchionne is confident the changes will yield results in 2017.
"We have restructured and I prefer to look to the future in a different way," he said at Ferrari's traditional Christmas lunch. "I don't regret the choices made, they were well thought out, so there's no need to change ideas.
"There are still many things missing, but the team is the team and it was put in place over a period of years and we're not about to change it now. Our working practice is already different to what it was back in August, which is when Mattia Binotto took over the reins. The organizational change was also partly made to bring some calm. Put in the work and the results will come."
Binotto said the restructure has improved the team's ability to react to issues and is confident Ferrari can deliver a competitive car under the new 2017 regulations.
"There are so many changes to the rules relating to aerodynamics. We will see cars that are much quicker through the corners, under acceleration and in braking. There is nothing to say that we here in Maranello cannot build such a car...It's just a matter of time. What we lacked on occasions this year was the ability to react quickly. We must be able to introduce new solutions before the others do."