Todt replaced as Ferrari boss while Brawn joins Honda

JEAN TODT is to be replaced as boss of the Ferrari Formula One team by Stefano Domenicali from January.

Todt, a key figure in turning Ferrari into one of F1's most successful teams since he joined in 1993, will stay on in a senior executive role.

The news comes on the same day as former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn was named Honda’s new F1 boss.

Domenicali, who worked under Brawn, is promoted from sporting director, a role he also inherited from Todt.

Ferrari’s decision comes after talks with Brawn about a return to the team following a sabbatical in 2007 broke down.

And it marks the culmination of a generational shift within Ferrari, with the replacement of the previous foreign leaders with a new set, chiefly Italian.

The team's success in the late 1990s and first half of this decade was based on Michael Schumacher's arrival at the team in 1996, by which time Frenchman Todt had already been in charge for three years.

The German brought Brawn with him from Benetton as technical director and chief designer Rory Byrne.

The four formed a formidable and tight-knit senior group which revived the team's fortunes and embarked upon a period of unprecedented domination of the sport.

The top of the team has now been restructured around a set of younger engineers who all performed key roles under the previous regime.

Byrne stepped aside more than a year ago, to be replaced by Aldo Costa, while Brawn's tactical and strategic role at races was taken on by Luca Baldisseri.

Brawn’s first task at Honda will be to effect an immediate improvement after a season which saw the Honda team claim just six drivers’ points all year.

English driver Jenson Button claimed all of those, with team-mate Rubens Barrichello failing to score any points.

Honda will be hoping that the appointment of Brawn will appease Button who made some recent scathing comments.

Brawn is looking forward to the challenge: “I am very excited to be joining the Honda Racing F1 Team. Honda has a proud heritage in Formula One and the opportunity to help the team to realise its potential represents a fantastic new challenge.”