UNITED KINGDOM: Ferrari is considering firing its Formula 1 team principal, Mattia Binotto, after the team’s underwhelming performance in 2022. Despite having the fastest car in the initial races, Ferrari’s Formula 1 title challenge unraveled due to poor reliability and blaring strategic blunders.
According to Italian media, there has been increasing pressure placed on Ferrari to begin making personnel changes to address the most recent slump after a season filled with mistakes and missed opportunities.
Frederic Vasseur may replace Binotto
Ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari had shot down the rumours that Mattia Binotto would quit the team at the end of the 2022 Formula 1 season. When asked about his future in Ferrari, Binotto could not categorically state that he would lead the team again in 2023. He said, “Obviously, it is not down to me to decide.”
However, speculation that Alfa Romeo chief Frederic Vasseur will replace Binotto next season has resurfaced recently, putting Binotto back in the crosshairs.
The perception that Mattia Binotto’s time with Ferrari is coming to an end is now being reinforced once more by the Italian media.
According to sources associated with Charles Leclerc’s entourage, the final touches to an exit agreement are only “hours away.”
Additionally, according to the report, the primary reason for Binotto’s departure was his increasingly sour relationship with Ferrari president John Elkann, who no longer believes that Binotto is qualified for the position.
Alfa Romeo’s Vasseur is the leading clear stand-apart possibility to supplant Binotto at this stage, the report adds, as McLaren’s Andreas Seidl is accepted to have previously turned down the job.
Mattia Binotto had said during a previous interview that he was relaxed regarding the speculations since he could have an open discussion with the Ferrari bosses. He felt that under his leadership, Ferrari had fulfilled its ambition to be back at the top of the rankings and compete at the front of the grid in 2022.
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