Ferrari recruit Bridgestone man Hamashima 11 Jan 2012
Ferrari have signed Hirohide Hamashima, formerly Bridgestone’s director of motorsport tyre development, to their technical line-up for the forthcoming season in a bid to improve the interaction between the team’s new car and Pirelli’s 2012 tyres, an area in which they struggled last year.
Hamashima has extensive Formula One experience, having led the development of Bridgestone’s F1 tyres during their time in the sport between 1997 and 2010. The Japanese company worked closely with Ferrari in that period, helping Michael Schumacher to five world titles between 2000 and 2004.
Hamashima’s appointment was revealed on Wednesday at Ferrari’s annual ‘Wrooom’ media event in the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort in northern Italy. The Japanese engineer is expected to report directly to Ferrari chassis director Pat Fry.
Ferrari also announced that Steve Clark, formerly of the Mercedes team, has joined them to head up race engineering.
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