Binotto’s departure from Ferrari F1 team confirmed
He will leave the job on December 31st, and will be replaced in the new year, after a 2022 season in which the Italian outfit failed to end their long wait for F1 world championship success.
“With the regret that this entails, I have decided to conclude my collaboration with Ferrari," Binotto said. "I am leaving a company that I love, which I have been part of for 28 years, with the serenity that comes from the convinction that I have made every effort to achieve the objectives set.
"I leave a united and growing team. A strong team, ready, I’m sure, to achieve the highest goals, to which I wish all the best for the future. I think it is right to take this step at this time as hard as this decision has been for me. I would like to thank all the people at the Gestione Sportiva who have shared this journey with me, made up of difficulties but also of great satisfaction.”
Benedetto Vigna commented: “I would like to thank Mattia for his many great contributions over 28 years with Ferrari and particularly for leading the team back to a position of competitiveness during this past year. As a result, we are in a strong position to renew our challenge, above all for our amazing fans around the world, to win the ultimate prize in motorsport. Everyone here at the Scuderia and in the wider Ferrari community wishes Mattia well for the future.”
Ferrari made a bright start to the campaign and led both championships after taking two wins in the opening three races, but ultimately finished a distant second in the F1 constructors’ standings to Red Bull.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen charged to a dominant second world championship ahead of Charles Leclerc, who secured runner-up spot in Binotto’s last race in charge at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Binotto’s position had been the subject of intense speculation after Ferrari’s defeat to Red Bull was accelerated by a catalogue of poor strategic calls, reliability issues and driver errors.
In the build-up to the Abu Dhabi finale, Ferrari moved to emphatically deny rumours that Binotto was to be axed over the winter, with Binotto himself insisting to reporters that he felt “relaxed” over his future.
But fresh stories of Binotto’s imminent exit from Ferrari emerged in Italian media on Friday ahead of the formal announcement.
The reports claimed a breakdown in trust between Binotto and Ferrari chairman John Elkann, as well as a desire for a change in leadership being pushed by Leclerc’s camp.
Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur - Leclerc’s former boss - has been mooted as the favourite to replace Binotto at the helm of Ferrari for F1 2023.
