Whether Allison has now left mainly because he (understandably) wants to be back home in England or also because he was pushed out by Marchionne and Co., I stand by my assessment that there are some fundamental problems in the Scuderia. During Montezemolo’s tenure, he created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation that resulted in a decision making paralysis where the staff were driven by avoiding mistakes rather than innovation and inspiration. When people operate from fear of negative judgement, the result is that they narrow their options and limit their thinking. It never works
By contrast, when Todt, Brawn and Schumacher were trying turn Ferrari around, Todt fought Montezemolo and and the Fiat bosses from interfering and gave the Scuderia the breathing room to be creative and grow. That type of culture hasn’t been seen at Ferrari in over a decade.