When Mattia Binotto starts ordering his at Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello, it has been claimed that the Scuderia approached Andreas Seidl and Christian Horner a year ago and provided them with the Italian’s job.
Both did not, granting Binotto a one-year pardon.
That’s over, with the 53-year-old’s resignation, “leaving a company I love, which I’ve been a part of for 28 years,” with reports saying it was a case of jumping than being pushed.
Binotto’s departure comes after a season in which Ferrari took its first race wins since 2019, failing to fight for championship titles as his efforts were thwarted by strategy errors and an unreliable engine.
But it turns out that Binotto has lived on borrowed money.
According to Andreas Haupt of Auto Motor und Sport, Ferrari had already “launched investigations” last winter, but the “preferred contenders Andreas Seidl and Christian Horner did not need to be in the ejection seat”.
The German, McLaren’s team boss, and the Briton, Red Bull’s team principal, need to stay with their existing groups before taking the poisoned gift that is the task of Ferrari team principal.
Haupt added: “Shooters dare not Maranello technique. Which says a lot about the state of the Scuderia. If you have to present yourself as a vice-world champion, the name world champion is also mandatory for the newcomer. And no one can assure that.
“The painting is ready before it even starts. “
This is the first time this has been claimed, with Corriere dello Sport adding that Ferrari also reached out to AlphaTauri’s Franz Tost and former Ferrari powerforce turned DTM boss Gerhard Berger. Once again, they met the no.
Now they have turned their attention to Alfa Romeo team boss Frédéric Vasseur, who heads the list of candidates. The Scuderia has reportedly already opened negotiations with the Frenchman, but it may all depend on whether Alfa Romeo-Sauber is willing to let him go. .
“Vasseur can simply threaten him,” Haupt added. Perhaps because his medium- and long-term journey at Sauber after Audi’s accession is uncertain.
“If the parties agree, one thing is for sure: Ferrari will ask for everything. One like the Scuderia, with its internal politics and its power games, which Binotto knew very well, attracts much more attention than the Swiss Sauber RacingArray.
“Vasseur hides in Maranello if he needs to make friends and allies in the team, and takes Ferrari where the team says it belongs: the most sensible in the World Championship. And only there. “
If Vasseur takes over, it could be wonderful news for Charles Leclerc, the Monegasque driving force who spent his first season on the F1 grid with Vasseur at Sauber.
According to Sky Italia’s Carlo Vanzini, all is not well between Binotto and 2022 finalist Charles Leclerc, with Silverstone being the breaking point in their relationship.
Leclerc, the first leader of the championship, frustrated by Ferrari’s strategic errors, aggravated by a call to the British Grand Prix that favored Carlos Sainz.
That Sunday, Leclerc led the Grand Prix when there was an expired protection car, Ferrari faced Sainz for new tires and left Leclerc behind. Sainz pounced in temporarily, taking victory while Leclerc dropped fourth.
Then he noticed Binotto, the team boss waving his finger in his driver’s face.
“If I had done it with a ’90s motif, I don’t think the finger would have remained intact,” Vanzini said.
He added of Binotto’s final year at the helm: “Complicated seasons, with many lows, few highs and a dating that turns out to have cracked even with the driver, Charles Leclerc, after the many mistakes that the red cars have made this season. .
Read more: Will Ferrari prepare itself despite everything for its head to triumph over its heart?