Resta, who has long worked at Ferrari, had originally joined Haas in 2021 as part of an ongoing arrangement deal between the Italian manufacturer and its American-owned customer team. It came with Ferrari wanting to capitalise on stronger technical ties between the two organisations that have worked closely together ever since Haas entered F1 in 2016.
Resta had previously been Ferrari's chief designer between 2014 and 2018 before a short stint as Alfa Romeo technical director. After returning to Maranello in 2019, he headed up the department responsible for chassis development before his move to Haas.
But despite Resta’s involvement at Haas, and Ferrari’s commitment in setting up a Maranello technical hub near its Fiorano test track, the team did not deliver the step forward hoped for in F1’s ground effect era.
Last year, despite the Haas car often showing great speed in qualifying, tyre struggles left Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg struggling for points in the races and it ended up 10th in the constructors’ championship.
The team also had a disappointing end to the year when a major upgrade that arrived at the United States Grand Prix did not deliver the clear step forward that had been hoped for.
The change of design philosophy, which moved away from the in-wash sidepod concept that Ferrari had pioneered and towards the Red Bull downwash idea, had been aimed at addressing Haas’s race-pace problem but did not prove convincing.
Now, ahead of the countdown to the new season, it is understood that the arrangement that Ferrari has in loaning Resta to Haas has prompted a change of plan – with the 53-year-old stepping away from the team.
There has been no confirmation from Ferrari about the plans for Resta, but it is possible that he could be moved back into the F1 organisation as part of a push by team principal Fred Vasseur to restructure things.
However, there have also been rumours linking Resta with a possible role at the Sauber squad, which is gearing up for Audi’s arrival in 2026, where he had previously worked under the Alfa Romeo banner.
