After an abysmal year, Mattia Binotto is out
The Ferrari team boss is quitting after a four-year stint in what is perhaps Formula 1’s most difficult job.
Mattia Binotto is quitting as Ferrari team boss on the back of a season that was, by frontrunner standards, abysmal.
They lost more than 100 points throughout the first 13 races, didn’t win a race in the second half of the year, and ultimately finished distant runner-ups behind Red Bull.
The year will be remembered for clumsy mistakes, strategic mishaps, and temperamental power units.
And it’s probably why Binotto is now leaving. Rumors of his sacking had been circulating too - leading to the theory that Binotto jumped before he was pushed.
Still, you could argue he’s departing without having had a proper chance to prove himself.
2022 was a fresh start for everyone thanks to the new generation of cars - and it was Ferrari who made the biggest gain of anyone.
Binotto took this optimistic perspective when he spoke to the media in Abu Dhabi.
“Yes, we had [a] few up and downs, we are not the best yet … but I think we achieved our main objective which was to be back to be competitive in that new year of the 2022 cars,” Binotto said.
But the movers and shakers within Ferrari clearly don’t share his optimism about the situation.
Ferrari CEO (Binotto’s boss) Benedetto Vigna told CNBC shortly after Abu Dhabi that finishing second in the season left him unsatisfied.
“Second is first of the losers,” he said.
Binotto’s case isn’t helped when you also consider he oversaw a team that made several unforced mistakes in 2022, particularly around race strategy.
They also failed to convert strong positions. Ferrari started first 12 times in 2022, but only won four races.
There were also rumors that Binotto had a rift with his star driver, Charles Leclerc.
While all of that counted against Binotto, what Ferrari got with him - and would’ve continued to get - was stability.
Binotto knew the team well, having worked there since 1995.
But historically at Ferrari, heads roll amid unsatisfactory results.
Binotto’s predecessor, Maurizio Arrivabene, left on the back of two failed championship bids in 2017 and 2018, while another former boss, Stefano Domenicali, left amid Ferrari’s disastrous and winless 2014 season.
Binotto is now the fourth team boss to depart in the last decade.
This chopping and changing is a stark contrast to rivals Red Bull, where Christian Horner has been team principal since 2005, while Adrian Newey has been the technical chief since 2006.
Ferrari have previously shown that stability can count in Formula 1.
The last man to steer them to glory after years without championships was Jean Todt. He was put in charge in 1993 and six years later, Ferrari won a championship, breaking a 15-year drought.
Right now, it’s been 14 years since Ferrari’s last championship victory.
A replacement for Binotto is due to be announced in the new year and Alfa Romeo team boss Fred Vasseur is considered the favorite.
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