GROVE Racing has pulled off a major coup, landing the signature of Ferrari Formula 1 guru Riccardo Corte to bolster its 2026 Supercars program.

Corte was Lewis Hamilton’s performance engineer through the first half of this year.

Next season, he will be Kai Allen’s race engineer, with the incumbent in that role Alistair McVean promoted to head of performance.

All this comes in the days after team principal David Cauchi’s impending departure was confirmed.

“I’m really proud to be joining Grove Racing at such an exciting time for the team,” said Corte.

“The progress they’ve made in recent seasons is impressive, and the Bathurst 1000 win shows what’s possible with the right people and mindset.

“After 11 years at Ferrari F1, I’m looking forward to bringing that experience into Supercars, helping the team keep pushing forward and maximising every opportunity on track.”

Team owner Stephen Grove said: “Riccardo’s appointment represents another major step forward for Grove Racing.

“His 11 years of experience at Ferrari F1, and his work as Lewis Hamilton’s performance engineer earlier this year, bring incredible depth and understanding to our program.

“We’re proud to welcome him to the team and it speaks to the calibre of people we have at Grove Racing.”

As for McVean’s promotion, Grove said: “Alistair’s influence has been central to our progress.

“His promotion recognises his leadership and ensures his expertise continues to guide the growth of our engineering program.”

McVean has enjoyed a prolific career, involved in multiple Bathurst 1000 successes – most famously guiding David Reynolds, Luke Youlden and Erebus Motorsport’s 2017 triumph.

“It’s an exciting step to move into this role and continue shaping the engineering direction of Grove Racing,” said McVean.

“We’ve built strong foundations, and my focus is on refining our tools, processes, and people so we can keep lifting our standards and extracting every bit of performance possible.”

Jack Bell is expected to continue as Matt Payne’s engineer.

Both Payne and Allen have qualified for the Sandown semi-finals.