Mattia Binotto will be leaving Ferrari after a stint of 28 years where he served as race engineer for Michael Schumacher, was the lead for the engine department till he became first technical director in 2016 and then became team principal in 2019. It seems that Binotto’s rise was in part due to former Fiat and Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne who passed away in 2018 from cancer. He perhaps never really had the trust of Ferrari chairman and EXOR CEO John Elkann who has been at the helm of the Fiat Chrysler group for more than 2 decades. And with Ferrari faltering in 2020 and then missing out on a golden opportunity to win an elusive F1 world title after 14 years, the relationship between the two broke down which resulted in the Swiss-Italian’s resignation from F1’s most storied team.
Seemingly, Elkann was so unhappy with Binotto he had approached McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl and Red Bull boss Christian Horner for the job, but they both declined.
Before the end of the season, rumours were afloat that Binotto was going to be replaced by Fred Vasseur who leads the Sauber Alfa Romeo operation that is also powered by Ferrari. But that team will morph into Audi in 2026 and the Audi team will be acquiring a controlling stake in the outfit starting next year. The Alfa Romeo branding will also be ending by 2023. While reports of Vasseur were quickly washed off by Ferrari, now that Binotto is truly leaving, he could be the only viable option. Interestingly, for Binotto it could be the same too and reports out of Italy suggest that Binotto is already in talks with Audi for a role in its F1 team.
Vasseur’s contract will likely not be renewed once the Audi takeover at Hinwil is complete and considering his relationship with Charles Leclerc since his F3 and Sauber days is also viewed as a reason for Vasseur to take over. He is also knowledgeable about Ferrari’s power units as his team has been using them for the last 5 years and is generally well regarded across the paddock as one of the shrewdest operators in the business.
For Binotto, a shift to Audi will also make sense as in his dual role of team boss and technical director, he will likely have a long gardening leave which would mean that he can’t join any of the current teams immediately. Binotto’s relationship with Leclerc had been patchy and many believe he is best left in a technical role, something Audi would need as he has been the architect of Ferrari’s latest power unit which many believe to be unreliable but the most potent one on the grid.
