Man United set to raid Mercedes’ F1 team for data supremo as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s backroom rebuild continues

Manchester United are set to raid Mercedes’ F1 team as they seek to turbocharge the data analysis set-up at the club.

Mail Sport understands the Premier League outfit are in advanced talks with Michael Sansoni, senior performance simulation engineer at the Brackley-based motorsport giants, over a switch of sports.

United have identified a number of areas for improvement under a wide-ranging review instigated by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos team following their arrival last January.

Data analysis was rapidly highlighted as an area which needed urgent attention, and it would appear that the group have turned to a familiar face as part of their rebuild.

Ineos are a one-third equal shareholder of Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 and a principal partner to the team.

While the switch may raise eyebrows, it is thought that it is being viewed as a ‘move between the family’, according to insiders.

Sansoni’s move to Old Trafford would see Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s backroom rebuild continue

Ratcliffe’s INEOS group is the principal partner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

The switch is understood to have the blessing of Mercedes, who are also assisting with logistics. Sansoni was expected to depart the team, regardless of United’s interest. 

Sansoni, who graduated from Southampton with a BEng Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2015, is tasked with ensuring that the cars driven by George Russell and Kimi Antonelli deliver the best performance possible. He is set to take a senior data position at Old Trafford.

In an interview with the student newspaper at his old university, he explained: ‘My role is to ensure we start the track testing on the Friday of a race weekend with the car in the best position in terms of overall performance. Otherwise, it’s a very long Friday night to get back to where we should be. Post-event it’s a lot of correlation work. We go back and look at the real physics and behaviour of the car and whether the models were accurate or if there are areas that we could improve on. It’s a process of continual improvement.’

It is thought that officials at United believe that a lot of Sansoni’s skills can be transferred from Formula One to football.

In an interview with fanzine United We Stand in December, Ratcliffe opened up on the situation within the data department. ‘Until we’re are as good as anyone in the world, then it’s not good enough for Manchester United,’ he said. ‘We must have the best recruitment in the world. Data analysis comes alongside recruitment. It doesn’t really exist here. We’re still in the last century on data analysis here.

‘There’s immense amount of useful data that we can get from data analysis and we’re in the ‘very poor’ bracket with data analysis here. These things don’t happen overnight.’

Data analysis is not the only area earmarked for change. In January, United brought in legendary decathlon coach Harry Marra to improve player speed. The 78-year-old American oversaw a number of training sessions over a five-week period.

Both Manchester United and Mercedes declined to comment.