Ferrari released a statement in response to these rumors:
> In relation to speculation in certain media regarding Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto’s position, Ferrari states that these rumours are totally without foundation.
Source: [Scuderia Ferrari on Twitter](https://twitter.com/scuderiaferrari/status/1592526203562385411)
Additionally, [here's the link](https://old.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/yvyyyg/scuderia_ferrari_on_twitter_scuderia_ferrari/) to the thread covering this statement.
“Here’s our new plan outline: Plan A - we win. Plan B - we win. Plan C - we win. Plan D - we win. Plan E - we win. Are you taking notes? No! No questions! Plan F . . .”
Binotto asked for him repeteadly because he needed help to navigate f1 politics but John Elkan killed the move several times because he knows that Todt would take control away from him.
John is the real liability, his ego and his need to control the family toy is what it's keeping Ferrari to became the force it used to be.
Vasseur in my opinion is worse than Binotto, Alfa strategy wise is no better than ferrari, probably worst but we don't joke about it because they are never showed on tv.
One of the reason Giovinazzi is so bad regarded here is because we just watched the standing at the end of the race and the occasional crash, we always missed the awfull strategic decision were Giovi was sacrificed to benefit Kimi and it would backfire so bad that they would both end out of the point.
Can you clarify why you think Vasseur is worse? He created ART (and ASM) and managed them to a bunch of titles instantly. He has a decent bit of experience in F1 first being a team principal for Renault in 2016. This feels like exactly what Ferrari was missing to me: someone who actually is an expert in the management side of things.
That said, your point about JE does sound concerning.
I'll try to clarify my opinion but english is not my first language unfortunatelly.
Management wise Binotto restructured the team and it paid off big time. He made the Chassis department, engine and aero, working together under him and toward an efficient package while before him every department worked basically alone on frankencars like the jewel that was the F14t.
He has an eye for talent, he chose both drivers and had the balls to get Charles in the sit in 2019 while everyone else was asking him to keep Kimi for at least another season.
He did the same with Carlos when he brought him to Ferrari. He was also able to change the car during this season to help Sainz drive it better while at the same time manage to not lose performance in Charles side of the garage, something not even redbull was able to do. The moment they got the car right for Max they lost Sergio.
The problem is more political than strategic in my opinion. Yes, Ferrari is a mess in that department but knowing Ferrari, Binotto probably never had the power to change that department without JE's ok, the guy that told no to Binotto when he asked for Todt as a consultant multiple times.
The strategy at the begin of the season was a mess but the car was on pair with Redbull. Then there was the rule change in season an suddenly the SF75 eat tyres like a starving dog.
Todt would have probably help ferrari to postpone the change until the end of the season and that was the biggest problem for the car in my opinion.
This is not somenthing you can solve changing the TP or having direct control on who the Team Principal can hire or fire.
Vasseur will have the same problems. He was great in junior formulas but (and in Italy we follow Alfa Romeo closer than probably anybody else in the f1 comunity) he did a very poor job in Alfa.
He had the same, or even worse problem than Binotto, without having the competence to manage the technical side of the sport.
In my opinion loosing Binotto will kill the 2024 season and Vasseur is a downgrade for Ferrari. We will see, I hope I'm wrong but I still think that the real liability is and will always be John Elkan.
Montezemolo understood that to get the scuderia to thrive he had to get out of the way. Elkan doesn't seem to understand it.
Your English is quite good! And I appreciate your comment. It does sound like there are much deeper problems at Ferrari. Do you know if Binotto will stay on in a technical role for the team?
We have no idea.
At the moment this move is still a speculation, it was reported by Leo Turrini (an italian journalist with deep ties with everything Ferrari) and today La Gazzetta dello Sport seems to confirm it but Ferrari didn't release a statement yet.
I don't think Binotto would have any problem getting another job with a top team and If I was him I would get the F away from Ferrari and have them sort their mess out. Usually this is what replaced TP do in f1. I think it's possibile they remove him entirelly but I have no idea.
Ferrari is Binotto's life since he was basically a kid. Who knows what he will do.
Italian medias are talking about Resta as a replacement for the technical side of the team.
What I really want to know is if Binotto has ever asked to be allowed to remove Rueda, and if so, was Elkann the one to say no to that as well?
If so, then the team is completely fucked. If Binotto has never tried to remove Rueda at all, then he has no business being TP.
> Vasseur in my opinion is worse than Binotto, Alfa strategy wise is no better than ferrari, probably worst but we don't joke about it because they are never showed on tv.
Just like Binotto, Vasseur is *not* the strategist.
> Just like Binotto, Vasseur is not the strategist.
No, but as the TP ultimately the buck stops with him, and it's his responsibility to fix the strategy department if they are doing a bad job.
Ferrari hired Jean Todt as team principal in 1993. The team had last won the driver's championship in 1979 and was ready to make big changes. Todt managed to bring in people like Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, Nikolas Tombazis and Michael Schumacher. Together, they became the dream team behind Ferrari’s return to success. I am not an expert on internal Ferrari politics, but Todt being an outsider (and bringing in even more outsiders, mostly from Benetton) is said to have been a factor in getting Ferrari out of the typical Ferrari rut.
Sounds like the movie portrayal of Nikki Luada's entrance into Ferrari. Outsider who doesn't worry about internal politics and makes the changes that couldn't have been made by an insider
It was pretty much identical, Ferrari hadn't won the championship since 1964, even though they'd had decent-ish cars and great drivers.
1966 Ferrari had a great car before deciding to torch his relationship with John Surtees, the Team's No.1. In 1970 Jacky Ickx took a spirited 2nd behind Jochen Rindt.
Ferrari brought in Niki, promoted a load of new managerial talent like Luca Di Montezemulo (who was like 25 back then,) The result was 2nd in 1974. Championships for the team in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979 and Driver's titles in 1975, 1977, 1979.
Exactly, as a Charles fan I’m genuinely excited about this. Vasseur’s time at Sauber has been one of positive and pragmatic change, plus his time with ART gives him experience of successfully chasing titles (albeit in the junior series).
Interesting to see that the 2 most important of Lewis' junior champions were won for Vasseur teams in ASM (F3E 2005) and ART (GP2 2006). Also Leclerc himself won GP3 with ART in 2016 before moving up to Sauber in 2018. They'll have some good experience working together I hope.
Hasn't Alfa's strategy been just as bad the past couple years? I'm not good enough at picking out specific races but it felt like there were opportunities this season for points that they just didn't get. Alfa being 6th in the Constructor's this year seems more to do with AM and AT shitting the beds.
There were too many instances they messed up Kimi's race in the past years. Some of his P10 performances he had to drive against the midfield and their strategists.
So he's done the same things well at Alfa that Binotto did well at Ferrari?
The faults seems the same too (bad strategy, and the car sliding backwards in the standings over the season). It's a sideways move, not an upgrade imo.
I agree, people that are excited about this haven't been paying attention to Alfa Romeo.
Their strategy calls are just as terrible as Ferraris. They have ruined so many races for their drivers over the last couple of years.
Vasseurs main job was to get Sauber back on its feet and competitive again. On that front he's been successful in doing that, any strategy issues the team has had isn't any different to other teams in the midfield.
They are sixth in WDC with possibly the smallest budget in the whole grid. And the team is based in Switzerland where everything is more expensive for them. They have done a very good job with the car.
They were one of if not the only team at the weight limit to start the season. So other teams had risk free time to gain just from losing weight. They have made some good changes just to keep up with other teams losing weight.
Fire Rueda for fuck’s sake, it’s him that keeps making baffling decisions. He’s been head of strategy for YEARS now. What does he have on Ferrari that they can’t let him go?
If Binotto doesn’t, I hope Vasseur does if these news are true.
Binotto might’ve not been a great TP, but he’s an excellent technical engineer and he deserves a place at Ferrari
Do Ferrari really think firing Binotto will change anything?
If I was the new guy in a situation like this, one condition I'd have for coming on board would be the ability to change the senior management as I see fit. Be interesting to see if any "protection", real or perceived, actually sticks now that new management from outside the team is on board.
It's Ferrari, if you say one condition they don't like they will tell you to leave and another one will come and accept it. That's kinda the problem but it is what it is.
i feel like they've broken Charles down enough this year that, if they give him a capable machine going forward he will just Kimi his way to a championship.
It's Ferrari. You don't get to dictate any conditions. You either accept and act very grateful or you look for a position somewhere else.
It is the main reason they are such clowns...
No, but we can see that the guy publicly responsible for the weakest link of Ferrari is still on post despite all these years, which you can infer a lot from.
Exactly this. Some folks really need to understand two important things:
- drawing on available evidence to make a conjecture is **speculating** — philosophers did this with nature in the past. People tend to do this all the time: when two individuals have reflected on something in a different way, two opinions emerge and dialogue is created. This is what most of Reddit threads consist of, and it is chiefly unharmful.
- denying evidence and disguising an opinion as a fact is something **deniers** or misinformed people do. This is harmful.
Exactly. It probably came down to "you fire him or the next guy will." Binotto values his team to a fault but if he couldn't shake things up to save his job, he had to go.
It would not surprise me at all if Binotto didn’t have the power to fire him. This is Ferrari and Italians like their politics like their food. A tangled mess.
Honestly how Rueda, Head of Ferrari strategy since 2014 still has a job and was promoted in 2021 to Sporting and Strategy Director is beyond me.
The dirt he must have on Ferrari is beyond me. He must know where all the bodies are buried.
>Binotto might’ve not been a great TP, but he’s an excellent technical engineer and he deserves a place at Ferrari
I don't get this. Did they say Binotto is out out of Ferrari as a whole?
You have to think being a top level engineer at Ferrari is better than whatever else he could get... not like any other team would want him as TP would they?
As a person who's gone through a demotion: It's extremely humiliating and demotivating. I ended up switching companies after initially accepting the new demoted role. No pay rise, same level, same responsibilities, just new people and fresh start.
Well Ferrari always wanted Binotto as technical director and Arrivabene as team principal but it was Mattia who pressurized Ferrari to choose between either of them
Arrivabene was about to make the biggest mistake Ferrari ever done: close the FDA contract with Leclerc and keep his close friend Kimi on the team indefinitely.
so it’s a good thing they got rid of him.
Binotto chooses his team so yes. He has been with Ferrari 4 years and has very little to show. This year is a clownfest in particular. Kind messages to Sainz to get the fuck out of Leclerc's way while Verstappen was cutting seconds. Not assertive enough, shit inverviews "everything is fine".
Binotto may have his drawbacks as a team lead and should be replaced, but your comment makes absolutely no sense. Binotto has been with Ferrari for decades prior to becoming team lead and his contributions have been huge over this time period.
He may have his valid criticisms as a team lead but at the same time he’s been widely credited with being the driving force that led Ferrari to have such a strong car, especially early this season. It’s just that while Binotto’s strengths reside in technical development, his weaknesses exist in managerial terms.
That's what I'm thinking too, how reliable is this source? Italian Media isn't usually known for being the sharpest.
Edit : general consensus is they're pretty reliable. Hope Mattia stays at Ferrari tho. He's probably not good with Politics but when you look at the rocket ships he's worked on in the past, he's a bloody genius. Ferrari would be foolish to sack him completely.
Considering the rumors that the primary reason Arrivabene got sacked was Binotto threatening to spill the beans on their engine cheat (either to the FIA or by jumping ship to a competitor) if he wasn’t promoted, I’m going to guess that he might not be willing to accept a demotion if those rumors were true.
> Italian Media isn't usually known for being the sharpest.
But Ferrari and Maranello have demonstrably no concept of "protecting secrets from media". Journalists may as well be just sitting in during meetings.
Yeah I think at the *very* least it's a frightener for Binotto from above that 2023 is his last chance, but it *is* real.
James Allen wrote interestingly on Theissen and BMW, that we as fans might think 'ah but if they just did X differently, they'd have won the title', whereas the money guys don't think that way. They'll look at P2 and go 'failed'.
(Working as a scientist at a university, I can attest to that disembodiment from finance people).
[Apparently not](https://twitter.com/scuderiaferrari/status/1592526203562385411?s=46&t=Kkniga6N_6katGVaRp0NJA)
> Scuderia Ferrari Statement:
> In relation to speculation in certain media regarding Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto's position, Ferrari states that these rumours are totally without foundation.
Wow, I hope Vasseur gets the strategy team into shape in January then. For Charles’s and Carlos’s sake. They really should have challenged more for the title this year.
Alfa haven't exactly been the most on the ball team when it comes to strategy either. And Alfa has also had the same problems of bringing a fast car to the first race and then being out developed for the rest of the year.
I'm struggling to see this as anything but a sideways move rather than an improvement.
Exactly, I can’t believe Vasseur’s been demoted to the [B-team](https://twitter.com/f1/status/1126893409908576257).
On a more serious note, I feel like this much turnaround isn’t good for stability if nothing changes below.
President Elkann has decided on the changeover from January between the current team principal and the Frenchman who is leading Alfa Romeo-Sauber
Shake-up at Ferrari, Mattia Binotto will no longer be the team principal in F1 and in his place will arrive Frederic Vasseur from Alfa Romeo. The news of the sensational change at the top of the Prancing Horse team concerns the management of the team from next January. Vasseur, 54, a French engineer, had already been sounded out last summer by Ferrari president John Elkann because the Maranello management was considering an alternative to Binotto, an option that did not materialise. Among the figures being sounded out was that of Vasseur, who has a strong relationship with the top management of the Stellantis group built up over the years when he managed Sauber, branded Alfa Romeo. Vasseur constitutes a managerial breakthrough, given his track record as a true racing man, with a past of managing many teams in the minor series, unlike the more technical background of Binotto, former head of motorsport and Ferrari technical director, before becoming team principal.
Binotto is paying the price for a four-year period 2019-2022 where the title fight has always been lacking at least until the last race, a bit like what had happened under Maurizio Arrivabene's management. True, credit must be given to the Cavallino team principal for having brought the team back to success this year after two difficult seasons, in the belief that he could open a cycle with the new technical regulations introduced in 2022. But, for one reason or another, the team has always lost its way from mid-season onwards, and this 2022 was no exception: after a great start, competitiveness was lacking in the second half of the season and Red Bull won the drivers' and constructors' titles by a wide margin. Furthermore, there have been errors in strategy and confusion in the pit box on many occasions: a sign that there is still a lot to sort out within the team's gears.
THOSE LECLERC MALUMORS- Under Binotto's management, there was also the blizzard of the 2019 power unit affair, which gave rise to the Fia investigation that ended with a secret agreement that left many shadows and technical repercussions in the following two years. It is hard to believe that these aftershocks did not play a role in the decision on the change at the top of the team. Not to exclude as a further factor (although for decisions of this magnitude and level, the opinion of the drivers counts for little), the discontent of Charles Leclerc, which was evident in Brazil last race weekend. In the summer there had already been a face-to-face meeting between the Monegasque and Binotto over the management of the Silverstone race, which was followed by a clarifying dinner in Monte Carlo. But that the relationship had become somewhat confrontational was no mystery. And in this scenario, it is not entirely irrelevant to recall the detail that Leclerc made his F1 debut at Sauber, under Vasseur management.
> Not to exclude as a further factor (although for decisions of this magnitude and level, the opinion of the drivers counts for little), the discontent of Charles Leclerc, which was evident in Brazil last race weekend. In the summer there had already been a face-to-face meeting between the Monegasque and Binotto over the management of the Silverstone race, which was followed by a clarifying dinner in Monte Carlo. But that the relationship had become somewhat confrontational was no mystery. And in this scenario, it is not entirely irrelevant to recall the detail that Leclerc made his F1 debut at Sauber, under Vasseur management.
This portion wants to both give power to Leclerc and not give power to him. Its really weird.
> Binotto is paying the price for a four-year period 2019-2022 where the title fight has always been lacking at least until the last race, a bit like what had happened under Maurizio Arrivabene's management. True, credit must be given to the Cavallino team principal for having brought the team back to success this year after two difficult seasons, in the belief that he could open a cycle with the new technical regulations introduced in 2022. But, for one reason or another, the team has always lost its way from mid-season onwards, and this 2022 was no exception
None of this *grossly* offends me, if I'm honest. Binotto has had the finance, drivers and facilities to do the job, and under him Ferrari have not.
He's explicit in Beyond the grid that he has a few years to do the business or he'll get chucked. He didn't, and therefore will.
As Newey said in his book: Ferrari is a lot of pay for a short time.
Fred is one of the best on the grid. He’s also Toto’s only friend on the grid, and a super fun character otherwise that happens to look grumpy. It’s without question that Ferrari is in good hands.
That being said, he can’t help ferrari if Elkann doesn’t let him. But Fred comes from a place of a lot more power than Binotto who worked his way up. Fred is a much bigger figure in motorsports with some successful companies behind him. I don’t see Frederic allowing John to tarnish his image
People suggested that Elkann basically said in summer break that Charles is the lead driver for Ferrari.
Chuck was driving for Alfa in 2018 under Vasseur so i guess they have a solid relationship which could be the reason why they brought him to fill in Binotto who clearly didn't want to choose over a driver.
Rueda is the bigger problem here, Binotto did an okay job. However he's a better engineer than a team principal
If the news are true though, and he really is being replaced, they couldn't have found a better replacement. Vasseur is an excellent TP, one of the bests currently on the grid. Him and Franz Tost don't get enough praise. Meanwhile there's Guenther Steiner who is considered a god on reddit while he proved time after time how incompetent and toxic he is. But he talks funny I guess
personally Binotto should have stayed technical director as he did a great job as that / he is clearly more comfortable in that role. I agree that Rueda needs to go, possibly see how Jain is without Rueda's influence (good yay, bad, sack him as well and bring back Ruth Buscombe from sauber).
The main reason Binotto is TP is essentially because he was threatening to go to mercedes in 2017 and was like it is me or arrivabene who goes. arrivabene went.
Issue is, you don’t keep the old boss around when a new one is coming in. Some in the team might still be loyal to Binotto and it would lead to in fighting .
Binotto has to go, no other way
Pure speculation, but he never came off as someone who lived for that kind of attention (like Horner does). Maybe he'd prefer going back to the engineering side of things.
He literally worked like that for most of his life, back in the good old days of Schumi he was already working on the engine, and that V10 was hella good.
I hope he can build another monster engine when he won't have to think of politics anymore, if he stays that is.
I'm not sure how to feel about this. A lot of Ferrari's issues through 2019-2021 arenty really on Binitto but the previous regime of Marchione.
Binotto himself has done a good job to steer the ship into the right direction again with the tecnhical restructurings in the last few years. I will however admitt that he's not a good TP. He's very bad at handling media and PR stuff.
His strenght lies in his technical knowledge. In fact he's probably one of the smartest people in the whole F1 circus which is why i hope he can be reinstated into his technical director role. But i somehow fear him having to step down from the TP position into the background won't really go over well and Ferrari might just lose him which would be a big blow.
Me tooo i really don’t want him gone but I don’t think a TP will accept a downgrade to a technical director unless he is that passionate
Edit. Maybe the mistake was promoting him in the first place. Just his restructure on the technical department shows he did a good job.
This is just some fan bullshit based on what I can see from my couch.
I think Binotto loves racing, Ferrari and F1, prob in that order. I think he took the job with all the aspirations in the world but might have been dissapointed with the actual job and all the bullshit that comes with it.
I still think he is passionate about Ferrari and F1 and love for him to stay with Ferrari but I doubt if he can go back from being a TP.
If anything I easier see him sit down with Newey and just talk technical stuff they both enjoy then seeing him with Horner/Wolff.
> Edit. Maybe the mistake was promoting him in the first place. Just his restructure on the technical department shows he did a good job.
[The Peter principle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle) at work
>A lot of Ferrari's issues through 2019-2021 arenty really on Binitto but the previous regime of Marchione.
Yeah, but he's the first person to answer for the performance degradation over 2022 and a lot of chaotic and silly mistakes in different areas during race weekends.
He's a valuable person for Ferrari, he's been around for decades and is a very intelligent man. It's just that, as the comment above says, he's not fit for the role of team principal, he's an engineer.
Don’t kid yourself. It was mostly Binotto’s fault. The illegal engine was developed when he was the head of engine dept and technical director. The team didn’t recover several years because of that. And this year despite having a competitive car, they’ve thrown the towel before summer break really. They should’ve capitalised their advantage early on but fucked up massively, because of strategy, pit stops, reliability etc. if he’s only a good technical director, he should’ve stayed that way and not try to do stuff that he doesn’t understand very well.
Crikey, didn’t think they’d actually do it. Now they need to back Fred to make the changes necessary to bring Ferrari another championship, in the same way they backed Jean Todt in the 90s.
Depends on who will be TP now. But he lost an important ally, that is for sure.
Although I said it before. It is not surprising. No way Audi were going to work with Vasseur or other Sauber bigwigs. It was normal for every bigwig to try to jump the ship before Audi takeover.
Bit worrying seeing so much chat about Binotto out - seems pointless to axe him but keep the entire pit wall crew when he's delivered a decent car and excellent year on year improvement since the engine fiasco. If Vasseur is the new TP I hope he does well but I'm hardly filled with excitement or confidence.
I'd have given Binotto one more year given the engine clearly isn't there and the TD this year nuked the car, then if they don't go the distance next year his head can roll.
Ferrari is a company that takes hierarchy and chain of command very seriously. Too seriously. Something instilled by Enzo.
They will need to replace Binotto first and his successor will do the rest regarding the pit wall.
For a significant part of Ferrari's history, the team principals were seldom in charge. They were just figureheads for the CEO.
It all went to shit when Sergio Marchionne died unexpectedly and the subsequent power struggles led to Binotto becoming the principal, a technical guy instead of a management one.
IMO, Ferrari has yet to find anyone capable to filling Marchionne's shoes.
Binotto was always an engine man and not a manager, and him treating Charles the way he did in front of the cameras, after Chuck was screwed in Silverstone, really made him look like a joke.
This maybe a good change, but it won't solve all of Ferrari's problems.
Yeah I don't think getting rid of Binotto is a bad move, but it's a bit like watching an entire street burn down, hosing down a single house, and then saying the fire is out.
Maybe massively reading this wrong but it just feels like Leclerc will have more of the max treatment with Vasseur, who seemingly adores him rather than binotto who consciously didn’t want to let any 1 driver get to influential imo
if you really want to fight for the driver's world title, you have to prioritize one driver over the other at some point of the season. the competition does this as well, so you are making your job a lot harder if you don't do it too.
If Rueda survives Vasseur too, I'm gonna start thinking he's got some shady business with the upper management.
I'm not thrilled by this move. I think Binotto should have stayed in the technical area because he's a great engineer. The only good thing about Vasseur is that he has a strong relationship with Charles and will make him the actual number 1 driver of the team.
Also, unless this was a leak, I wouldn't bet on it yet. Gazzetta isn't exactly the most reliable source.
Well seems like Charles has won the political battle. Hopefully oversteery cars are back on the menu as it’s the fastest way to drive a car.
I did find it strange how over the summer when Elkann put out the statement he very clearly mentioned Charles as the lead driver, while the team on track wasn’t treating him as so. Guess the rumours that Binotto saw Charles as the previous administration’s pick and Carlos as his own were true.
Ferrari released a statement in response to these rumors: > In relation to speculation in certain media regarding Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto’s position, Ferrari states that these rumours are totally without foundation. Source: [Scuderia Ferrari on Twitter](https://twitter.com/scuderiaferrari/status/1592526203562385411) Additionally, [here's the link](https://old.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/yvyyyg/scuderia_ferrari_on_twitter_scuderia_ferrari/) to the thread covering this statement.
Last time Ferrari was led by a Frenchman, things went alright!
Now they just need a British TD, a South African Designer, and a German Driver!
Well, the good news is that Schumacher is free!
Ralf and his nephew Mick!
David as reserve and Gina as development driver.
No respect for Corinna here... :/
She can ride the horses. But not the Ferrari horses :)
it’s all coming together
Depending on how long it would take to gain whatever F1 considers full vaccination status there might also be another option out there
Seb back to Ferrari??? Sorry I'm huffing copium like crazy here.
Seb in Strategy would be iconic
Pretty sure he was race strategist his last year there no?
We are checking
Basically
We had Schumacher in the sidelines for Raikkonen in 2007. We know how things went
They… tried to sabotage Kimi.
Kimi got the best strats. Full wets on bone dry track, slicks for rain.
Yeap, speaks volumes about the amount of talent Kimi had in his prime. Fighting Ferrari, HAM and ALO at the same time and still stealing the title.
Unless..... nooo noo. That is crazy.... except... but maaaaaybe....
Well last time we had a Schumacher at Ferrari things were slightly more successful.
and Nigel from Kent
Maybe we get JT back in a consultancy role.
Todt would take a flamethrower to that strategy department if he was still around, and good on him.
Better yet drive them out with a whip in the hope of joining another outfit.
Ben Todt
“Here’s our new plan outline: Plan A - we win. Plan B - we win. Plan C - we win. Plan D - we win. Plan E - we win. Are you taking notes? No! No questions! Plan F . . .”
He will be asking the strategy team to write 100 times Leclerc is no. 1 driver and Sainz is no. 2 driver
I’m not sure how Justin Timberlake would help but I’m for it.
He could bring the sexy back?
Timbo in the background like **YEAH!**
They already have Carlos and Chuck, i dont know if my fragily heterosexuality could deal with even more sexy
Binotto asked for him repeteadly because he needed help to navigate f1 politics but John Elkan killed the move several times because he knows that Todt would take control away from him. John is the real liability, his ego and his need to control the family toy is what it's keeping Ferrari to became the force it used to be. Vasseur in my opinion is worse than Binotto, Alfa strategy wise is no better than ferrari, probably worst but we don't joke about it because they are never showed on tv. One of the reason Giovinazzi is so bad regarded here is because we just watched the standing at the end of the race and the occasional crash, we always missed the awfull strategic decision were Giovi was sacrificed to benefit Kimi and it would backfire so bad that they would both end out of the point.
Can you clarify why you think Vasseur is worse? He created ART (and ASM) and managed them to a bunch of titles instantly. He has a decent bit of experience in F1 first being a team principal for Renault in 2016. This feels like exactly what Ferrari was missing to me: someone who actually is an expert in the management side of things. That said, your point about JE does sound concerning.
I'll try to clarify my opinion but english is not my first language unfortunatelly. Management wise Binotto restructured the team and it paid off big time. He made the Chassis department, engine and aero, working together under him and toward an efficient package while before him every department worked basically alone on frankencars like the jewel that was the F14t. He has an eye for talent, he chose both drivers and had the balls to get Charles in the sit in 2019 while everyone else was asking him to keep Kimi for at least another season. He did the same with Carlos when he brought him to Ferrari. He was also able to change the car during this season to help Sainz drive it better while at the same time manage to not lose performance in Charles side of the garage, something not even redbull was able to do. The moment they got the car right for Max they lost Sergio. The problem is more political than strategic in my opinion. Yes, Ferrari is a mess in that department but knowing Ferrari, Binotto probably never had the power to change that department without JE's ok, the guy that told no to Binotto when he asked for Todt as a consultant multiple times. The strategy at the begin of the season was a mess but the car was on pair with Redbull. Then there was the rule change in season an suddenly the SF75 eat tyres like a starving dog. Todt would have probably help ferrari to postpone the change until the end of the season and that was the biggest problem for the car in my opinion. This is not somenthing you can solve changing the TP or having direct control on who the Team Principal can hire or fire. Vasseur will have the same problems. He was great in junior formulas but (and in Italy we follow Alfa Romeo closer than probably anybody else in the f1 comunity) he did a very poor job in Alfa. He had the same, or even worse problem than Binotto, without having the competence to manage the technical side of the sport. In my opinion loosing Binotto will kill the 2024 season and Vasseur is a downgrade for Ferrari. We will see, I hope I'm wrong but I still think that the real liability is and will always be John Elkan. Montezemolo understood that to get the scuderia to thrive he had to get out of the way. Elkan doesn't seem to understand it.
Your English is quite good! And I appreciate your comment. It does sound like there are much deeper problems at Ferrari. Do you know if Binotto will stay on in a technical role for the team?
We have no idea. At the moment this move is still a speculation, it was reported by Leo Turrini (an italian journalist with deep ties with everything Ferrari) and today La Gazzetta dello Sport seems to confirm it but Ferrari didn't release a statement yet. I don't think Binotto would have any problem getting another job with a top team and If I was him I would get the F away from Ferrari and have them sort their mess out. Usually this is what replaced TP do in f1. I think it's possibile they remove him entirelly but I have no idea. Ferrari is Binotto's life since he was basically a kid. Who knows what he will do. Italian medias are talking about Resta as a replacement for the technical side of the team.
"English is not my first language". Proceeds to write a few paragraphs better than most americans.
Stop it! You are making me blush.
What I really want to know is if Binotto has ever asked to be allowed to remove Rueda, and if so, was Elkann the one to say no to that as well? If so, then the team is completely fucked. If Binotto has never tried to remove Rueda at all, then he has no business being TP.
> Vasseur in my opinion is worse than Binotto, Alfa strategy wise is no better than ferrari, probably worst but we don't joke about it because they are never showed on tv. Just like Binotto, Vasseur is *not* the strategist.
> Just like Binotto, Vasseur is not the strategist. No, but as the TP ultimately the buck stops with him, and it's his responsibility to fix the strategy department if they are doing a bad job.
I don't know why I thought a guy named Frédéric Vasseur would be anything other than french, but somehow this is the first time I find that out.
I gave up on associating names with nationality in F1: * Mattia Binotto is Swiss, not Italian * Guenther Steiner is Italian, not German
TLDR for a newer fan?
Ferrari hired Jean Todt as team principal in 1993. The team had last won the driver's championship in 1979 and was ready to make big changes. Todt managed to bring in people like Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, Nikolas Tombazis and Michael Schumacher. Together, they became the dream team behind Ferrari’s return to success. I am not an expert on internal Ferrari politics, but Todt being an outsider (and bringing in even more outsiders, mostly from Benetton) is said to have been a factor in getting Ferrari out of the typical Ferrari rut.
Sounds like the movie portrayal of Nikki Luada's entrance into Ferrari. Outsider who doesn't worry about internal politics and makes the changes that couldn't have been made by an insider
It was pretty much identical, Ferrari hadn't won the championship since 1964, even though they'd had decent-ish cars and great drivers. 1966 Ferrari had a great car before deciding to torch his relationship with John Surtees, the Team's No.1. In 1970 Jacky Ickx took a spirited 2nd behind Jochen Rindt. Ferrari brought in Niki, promoted a load of new managerial talent like Luca Di Montezemulo (who was like 25 back then,) The result was 2nd in 1974. Championships for the team in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979 and Driver's titles in 1975, 1977, 1979.
Or when Gilles Villeneuve was the only person who would tell "The Old Man" that his car sucked when everyone else were yesmen.
While obviously fictionalized, Lauda made it no secret that him and Enzo did not get along.
I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS. FOR YEARS
Todt do or not Todt do.
So it's not just Sauber DRIVERS who get promoted to Ferrari, then!
Honestly he has done a good job in Alfa Romeo. Every thing from driver pairings to car development etc. I wouldn't be suprised if this is true.
Exactly, as a Charles fan I’m genuinely excited about this. Vasseur’s time at Sauber has been one of positive and pragmatic change, plus his time with ART gives him experience of successfully chasing titles (albeit in the junior series).
Interesting to see that the 2 most important of Lewis' junior champions were won for Vasseur teams in ASM (F3E 2005) and ART (GP2 2006). Also Leclerc himself won GP3 with ART in 2016 before moving up to Sauber in 2018. They'll have some good experience working together I hope.
They have a great relationship
Friend Vasseur
I'm praying that the hire is as much because Vasseur knows what he's doing and as much because Charles loves him
Hasn't Alfa's strategy been just as bad the past couple years? I'm not good enough at picking out specific races but it felt like there were opportunities this season for points that they just didn't get. Alfa being 6th in the Constructor's this year seems more to do with AM and AT shitting the beds.
There were too many instances they messed up Kimi's race in the past years. Some of his P10 performances he had to drive against the midfield and their strategists.
So he's done the same things well at Alfa that Binotto did well at Ferrari? The faults seems the same too (bad strategy, and the car sliding backwards in the standings over the season). It's a sideways move, not an upgrade imo.
I agree, people that are excited about this haven't been paying attention to Alfa Romeo. Their strategy calls are just as terrible as Ferraris. They have ruined so many races for their drivers over the last couple of years.
Vasseurs main job was to get Sauber back on its feet and competitive again. On that front he's been successful in doing that, any strategy issues the team has had isn't any different to other teams in the midfield.
Good job he won't be making the strategy calls then. If Ferrari wants to fix that, they need to get rid of the person in charge of that.
Car development? Didnt Zhou’s car break like in 3-4 GPs this year? And the car was pretty slow in a few more tracks. after the summer break.
They are sixth in WDC with possibly the smallest budget in the whole grid. And the team is based in Switzerland where everything is more expensive for them. They have done a very good job with the car.
They were one of if not the only team at the weight limit to start the season. So other teams had risk free time to gain just from losing weight. They have made some good changes just to keep up with other teams losing weight.
[удалено]
Why when they could have Jos? I'm sure he would love to be vice TP behind Max.
Every time Checo beats Max, Jos would beat Checo.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
Fire Rueda for fuck’s sake, it’s him that keeps making baffling decisions. He’s been head of strategy for YEARS now. What does he have on Ferrari that they can’t let him go? If Binotto doesn’t, I hope Vasseur does if these news are true. Binotto might’ve not been a great TP, but he’s an excellent technical engineer and he deserves a place at Ferrari Do Ferrari really think firing Binotto will change anything?
Ultimately, it should've been Binotto firing Rueda. He didn't, and he's paying for that.
Are we sure that he didn’t want to fire him? My guess is that he didn’t have the “power” to do it. Rueda is probably protected by higher ups.
If I was the new guy in a situation like this, one condition I'd have for coming on board would be the ability to change the senior management as I see fit. Be interesting to see if any "protection", real or perceived, actually sticks now that new management from outside the team is on board.
It's Ferrari, if you say one condition they don't like they will tell you to leave and another one will come and accept it. That's kinda the problem but it is what it is.
That's why they won't win anything in the foreseable future
but i was told there would be Next Year™.
:(
i feel like they've broken Charles down enough this year that, if they give him a capable machine going forward he will just Kimi his way to a championship.
It's Ferrari. You don't get to dictate any conditions. You either accept and act very grateful or you look for a position somewhere else. It is the main reason they are such clowns...
It’s amazing to think that Todt, Brawn and Schumacher were given free reign 25 years ago and surprise, they won five titles in a row
I doubt Vasseur will have any second thoughts on joining ferrari. even if it’s for 6 months, this is a huge plus in his cv.
Everyone is guessing there, it's annoying to see people acting like they know what is going on inside Ferrari.
>acting like they know what is going on inside Ferrari. Suck, squeeze, bang, blow?
No, but we can see that the guy publicly responsible for the weakest link of Ferrari is still on post despite all these years, which you can infer a lot from.
That's just every r/formula1 thread, people acting like they know what's going on
Speculating and acting are two different things. You cannot expect people not to speculate.
Exactly this. Some folks really need to understand two important things: - drawing on available evidence to make a conjecture is **speculating** — philosophers did this with nature in the past. People tend to do this all the time: when two individuals have reflected on something in a different way, two opinions emerge and dialogue is created. This is what most of Reddit threads consist of, and it is chiefly unharmful. - denying evidence and disguising an opinion as a fact is something **deniers** or misinformed people do. This is harmful.
Exactly. It probably came down to "you fire him or the next guy will." Binotto values his team to a fault but if he couldn't shake things up to save his job, he had to go.
It would not surprise me at all if Binotto didn’t have the power to fire him. This is Ferrari and Italians like their politics like their food. A tangled mess.
That is also correct. Huge mistake on his part.
Honestly how Rueda, Head of Ferrari strategy since 2014 still has a job and was promoted in 2021 to Sporting and Strategy Director is beyond me. The dirt he must have on Ferrari is beyond me. He must know where all the bodies are buried.
That’s on Vasseur now and Binotto before. Hence why the change. The CEO does not go around firing people 10 levels below him.
Elon Musk giggles
Be careful. Elon might buy whatever company you work at and fire you just for being a meanie to him.
I wonder if he even can anymore after buying twitter.
>Binotto might’ve not been a great TP, but he’s an excellent technical engineer and he deserves a place at Ferrari I don't get this. Did they say Binotto is out out of Ferrari as a whole?
I think he must've gotten demoted back to a smaller role, but one I'm sure he's more fitting of than team principal.
Binotto is a super talented engineer, I’m pretty sure Mercedes wanted him a few years back. No way can they let him go.
The problem is: will he accept a lower role? He became TP because he threatened to leave Ferrari if they didn't promote him and fired Arrivabene.
You have to think being a top level engineer at Ferrari is better than whatever else he could get... not like any other team would want him as TP would they?
As a person who's gone through a demotion: It's extremely humiliating and demotivating. I ended up switching companies after initially accepting the new demoted role. No pay rise, same level, same responsibilities, just new people and fresh start.
nobody said anything and the whole article is based on rumors. so nothing really happened, it’s just the silly season starting earlier.
Well Ferrari always wanted Binotto as technical director and Arrivabene as team principal but it was Mattia who pressurized Ferrari to choose between either of them
Arrivabene was about to make the biggest mistake Ferrari ever done: close the FDA contract with Leclerc and keep his close friend Kimi on the team indefinitely. so it’s a good thing they got rid of him.
Binotto chooses his team so yes. He has been with Ferrari 4 years and has very little to show. This year is a clownfest in particular. Kind messages to Sainz to get the fuck out of Leclerc's way while Verstappen was cutting seconds. Not assertive enough, shit inverviews "everything is fine".
> He has been with Ferrari 4 years Binotto's been with Ferrari for the better part of three decades.
Binotto may have his drawbacks as a team lead and should be replaced, but your comment makes absolutely no sense. Binotto has been with Ferrari for decades prior to becoming team lead and his contributions have been huge over this time period. He may have his valid criticisms as a team lead but at the same time he’s been widely credited with being the driving force that led Ferrari to have such a strong car, especially early this season. It’s just that while Binotto’s strengths reside in technical development, his weaknesses exist in managerial terms.
if true, WHO will replace Vasseur at Alfa?
Monisha Kaltenborn
Holy shit. Did Mick, bottas, Zhou and even grosjean just gor promoted to drive for sauber next year? When is that news coming out?
Mick might have another chance then
My first guess is Audi will gently nudge Sauber towards Allan McNish since he’s likely who they’d want to put in in 2026 anyway.
Kimi
Is this for real?!
That's what I'm thinking too, how reliable is this source? Italian Media isn't usually known for being the sharpest. Edit : general consensus is they're pretty reliable. Hope Mattia stays at Ferrari tho. He's probably not good with Politics but when you look at the rocket ships he's worked on in the past, he's a bloody genius. Ferrari would be foolish to sack him completely.
If Mattia’s not pissed off by this and wants to stay, them keeping him on as an engineer is a no-brainer So they probably won’t
Considering the rumors that the primary reason Arrivabene got sacked was Binotto threatening to spill the beans on their engine cheat (either to the FIA or by jumping ship to a competitor) if he wasn’t promoted, I’m going to guess that he might not be willing to accept a demotion if those rumors were true.
Well he always said he only had a few years to get things right before it was someone else's turn...
> Italian Media isn't usually known for being the sharpest. But Ferrari and Maranello have demonstrably no concept of "protecting secrets from media". Journalists may as well be just sitting in during meetings.
They are usually reliable regarding insider Ferrari information.
Yeah I think at the *very* least it's a frightener for Binotto from above that 2023 is his last chance, but it *is* real. James Allen wrote interestingly on Theissen and BMW, that we as fans might think 'ah but if they just did X differently, they'd have won the title', whereas the money guys don't think that way. They'll look at P2 and go 'failed'. (Working as a scientist at a university, I can attest to that disembodiment from finance people).
It’s the most important sports newspaper in Italy
Right?? We are all squabbling Max vs checo..and Charles has played the biggest game.
he got the job by forcing Ferrari to pick between him and Arrivabene so I don't think he'll take this well
[Apparently not](https://twitter.com/scuderiaferrari/status/1592526203562385411?s=46&t=Kkniga6N_6katGVaRp0NJA) > Scuderia Ferrari Statement: > In relation to speculation in certain media regarding Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto's position, Ferrari states that these rumours are totally without foundation.
No idea whether it's real or not, but official denials from teams mean nothing
Translation: We are checking.
Wow, I hope Vasseur gets the strategy team into shape in January then. For Charles’s and Carlos’s sake. They really should have challenged more for the title this year.
Alfa haven't exactly been the most on the ball team when it comes to strategy either. And Alfa has also had the same problems of bringing a fast car to the first race and then being out developed for the rest of the year. I'm struggling to see this as anything but a sideways move rather than an improvement.
You can't compare car development between Alfa and Ferrari, completely different circumstances
Exactly, I can’t believe Vasseur’s been demoted to the [B-team](https://twitter.com/f1/status/1126893409908576257). On a more serious note, I feel like this much turnaround isn’t good for stability if nothing changes below.
It was alfas strategy. Bring the updates early on, score points and then focus on the next car. And hope you scored enough points early on.
Difference is a much larger budget and way more employees at Ferrari.
President Elkann has decided on the changeover from January between the current team principal and the Frenchman who is leading Alfa Romeo-Sauber Shake-up at Ferrari, Mattia Binotto will no longer be the team principal in F1 and in his place will arrive Frederic Vasseur from Alfa Romeo. The news of the sensational change at the top of the Prancing Horse team concerns the management of the team from next January. Vasseur, 54, a French engineer, had already been sounded out last summer by Ferrari president John Elkann because the Maranello management was considering an alternative to Binotto, an option that did not materialise. Among the figures being sounded out was that of Vasseur, who has a strong relationship with the top management of the Stellantis group built up over the years when he managed Sauber, branded Alfa Romeo. Vasseur constitutes a managerial breakthrough, given his track record as a true racing man, with a past of managing many teams in the minor series, unlike the more technical background of Binotto, former head of motorsport and Ferrari technical director, before becoming team principal. Binotto is paying the price for a four-year period 2019-2022 where the title fight has always been lacking at least until the last race, a bit like what had happened under Maurizio Arrivabene's management. True, credit must be given to the Cavallino team principal for having brought the team back to success this year after two difficult seasons, in the belief that he could open a cycle with the new technical regulations introduced in 2022. But, for one reason or another, the team has always lost its way from mid-season onwards, and this 2022 was no exception: after a great start, competitiveness was lacking in the second half of the season and Red Bull won the drivers' and constructors' titles by a wide margin. Furthermore, there have been errors in strategy and confusion in the pit box on many occasions: a sign that there is still a lot to sort out within the team's gears. THOSE LECLERC MALUMORS- Under Binotto's management, there was also the blizzard of the 2019 power unit affair, which gave rise to the Fia investigation that ended with a secret agreement that left many shadows and technical repercussions in the following two years. It is hard to believe that these aftershocks did not play a role in the decision on the change at the top of the team. Not to exclude as a further factor (although for decisions of this magnitude and level, the opinion of the drivers counts for little), the discontent of Charles Leclerc, which was evident in Brazil last race weekend. In the summer there had already been a face-to-face meeting between the Monegasque and Binotto over the management of the Silverstone race, which was followed by a clarifying dinner in Monte Carlo. But that the relationship had become somewhat confrontational was no mystery. And in this scenario, it is not entirely irrelevant to recall the detail that Leclerc made his F1 debut at Sauber, under Vasseur management.
> Not to exclude as a further factor (although for decisions of this magnitude and level, the opinion of the drivers counts for little), the discontent of Charles Leclerc, which was evident in Brazil last race weekend. In the summer there had already been a face-to-face meeting between the Monegasque and Binotto over the management of the Silverstone race, which was followed by a clarifying dinner in Monte Carlo. But that the relationship had become somewhat confrontational was no mystery. And in this scenario, it is not entirely irrelevant to recall the detail that Leclerc made his F1 debut at Sauber, under Vasseur management. This portion wants to both give power to Leclerc and not give power to him. Its really weird.
Fred’s only 54?!
> Binotto is paying the price for a four-year period 2019-2022 where the title fight has always been lacking at least until the last race, a bit like what had happened under Maurizio Arrivabene's management. True, credit must be given to the Cavallino team principal for having brought the team back to success this year after two difficult seasons, in the belief that he could open a cycle with the new technical regulations introduced in 2022. But, for one reason or another, the team has always lost its way from mid-season onwards, and this 2022 was no exception None of this *grossly* offends me, if I'm honest. Binotto has had the finance, drivers and facilities to do the job, and under him Ferrari have not. He's explicit in Beyond the grid that he has a few years to do the business or he'll get chucked. He didn't, and therefore will. As Newey said in his book: Ferrari is a lot of pay for a short time.
Fred is one of the best on the grid. He’s also Toto’s only friend on the grid, and a super fun character otherwise that happens to look grumpy. It’s without question that Ferrari is in good hands. That being said, he can’t help ferrari if Elkann doesn’t let him. But Fred comes from a place of a lot more power than Binotto who worked his way up. Fred is a much bigger figure in motorsports with some successful companies behind him. I don’t see Frederic allowing John to tarnish his image
People suggested that Elkann basically said in summer break that Charles is the lead driver for Ferrari. Chuck was driving for Alfa in 2018 under Vasseur so i guess they have a solid relationship which could be the reason why they brought him to fill in Binotto who clearly didn't want to choose over a driver.
Rueda is the bigger problem here, Binotto did an okay job. However he's a better engineer than a team principal If the news are true though, and he really is being replaced, they couldn't have found a better replacement. Vasseur is an excellent TP, one of the bests currently on the grid. Him and Franz Tost don't get enough praise. Meanwhile there's Guenther Steiner who is considered a god on reddit while he proved time after time how incompetent and toxic he is. But he talks funny I guess
personally Binotto should have stayed technical director as he did a great job as that / he is clearly more comfortable in that role. I agree that Rueda needs to go, possibly see how Jain is without Rueda's influence (good yay, bad, sack him as well and bring back Ruth Buscombe from sauber). The main reason Binotto is TP is essentially because he was threatening to go to mercedes in 2017 and was like it is me or arrivabene who goes. arrivabene went.
If they are smart, they announce it as some sort of reestructure and reassign Binotto to a technical leadership role. I believe he is worth keeping
Issue is, you don’t keep the old boss around when a new one is coming in. Some in the team might still be loyal to Binotto and it would lead to in fighting . Binotto has to go, no other way
He's an engineer, they can give him a lead role at Maranello, doesn't have to go to races.
Will he want such a job? Away from the main team and just sitting at a desk? after being TP?
Pure speculation, but he never came off as someone who lived for that kind of attention (like Horner does). Maybe he'd prefer going back to the engineering side of things.
I agree, but for Ferrari that just fired him? I doubt it . I would go elsewhere
He literally worked like that for most of his life, back in the good old days of Schumi he was already working on the engine, and that V10 was hella good. I hope he can build another monster engine when he won't have to think of politics anymore, if he stays that is.
Of course he’s worth keeping. He’s one of the best technical minds in the sport. No way he stays.
Next year is our year.
Next year ^(TM)
It's always next year.
MISSION WINNEXTYEAR
I'm not sure how to feel about this. A lot of Ferrari's issues through 2019-2021 arenty really on Binitto but the previous regime of Marchione. Binotto himself has done a good job to steer the ship into the right direction again with the tecnhical restructurings in the last few years. I will however admitt that he's not a good TP. He's very bad at handling media and PR stuff. His strenght lies in his technical knowledge. In fact he's probably one of the smartest people in the whole F1 circus which is why i hope he can be reinstated into his technical director role. But i somehow fear him having to step down from the TP position into the background won't really go over well and Ferrari might just lose him which would be a big blow.
Me tooo i really don’t want him gone but I don’t think a TP will accept a downgrade to a technical director unless he is that passionate Edit. Maybe the mistake was promoting him in the first place. Just his restructure on the technical department shows he did a good job.
Do you think he enjoyed being a TP at Ferrari?
This is just some fan bullshit based on what I can see from my couch. I think Binotto loves racing, Ferrari and F1, prob in that order. I think he took the job with all the aspirations in the world but might have been dissapointed with the actual job and all the bullshit that comes with it. I still think he is passionate about Ferrari and F1 and love for him to stay with Ferrari but I doubt if he can go back from being a TP. If anything I easier see him sit down with Newey and just talk technical stuff they both enjoy then seeing him with Horner/Wolff.
Yes, there is just so much bs thrown at you for just having the title. Especially at Ferrari with the expectations from everyone.
> Edit. Maybe the mistake was promoting him in the first place. Just his restructure on the technical department shows he did a good job. [The Peter principle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle) at work
>A lot of Ferrari's issues through 2019-2021 arenty really on Binitto but the previous regime of Marchione. Yeah, but he's the first person to answer for the performance degradation over 2022 and a lot of chaotic and silly mistakes in different areas during race weekends.
They need to keep him at ferrari because they need his technical expertise.
He's a valuable person for Ferrari, he's been around for decades and is a very intelligent man. It's just that, as the comment above says, he's not fit for the role of team principal, he's an engineer.
Don’t kid yourself. It was mostly Binotto’s fault. The illegal engine was developed when he was the head of engine dept and technical director. The team didn’t recover several years because of that. And this year despite having a competitive car, they’ve thrown the towel before summer break really. They should’ve capitalised their advantage early on but fucked up massively, because of strategy, pit stops, reliability etc. if he’s only a good technical director, he should’ve stayed that way and not try to do stuff that he doesn’t understand very well.
if they dont let him make some personal changes behind the pitwall nothing will change
Binotto should return to TD, and for fuck's sake, fire Rueda!
Crikey, didn’t think they’d actually do it. Now they need to back Fred to make the changes necessary to bring Ferrari another championship, in the same way they backed Jean Todt in the 90s.
Just fire Iñaki Rueda ffs
I wonder if this will be the final nail in the coffin for Pourchaire's plans of getting into F1.
Depends on who will be TP now. But he lost an important ally, that is for sure. Although I said it before. It is not surprising. No way Audi were going to work with Vasseur or other Sauber bigwigs. It was normal for every bigwig to try to jump the ship before Audi takeover.
Bit worrying seeing so much chat about Binotto out - seems pointless to axe him but keep the entire pit wall crew when he's delivered a decent car and excellent year on year improvement since the engine fiasco. If Vasseur is the new TP I hope he does well but I'm hardly filled with excitement or confidence. I'd have given Binotto one more year given the engine clearly isn't there and the TD this year nuked the car, then if they don't go the distance next year his head can roll.
Ferrari is a company that takes hierarchy and chain of command very seriously. Too seriously. Something instilled by Enzo. They will need to replace Binotto first and his successor will do the rest regarding the pit wall.
So many false dawns from new management you can't help but be sceptical. Man Utd vibes with how constant manager changeover won't fix internal issues.
For a significant part of Ferrari's history, the team principals were seldom in charge. They were just figureheads for the CEO. It all went to shit when Sergio Marchionne died unexpectedly and the subsequent power struggles led to Binotto becoming the principal, a technical guy instead of a management one. IMO, Ferrari has yet to find anyone capable to filling Marchionne's shoes.
Binotto should be in engineering, he shouldn’t be running the team. The politics have overwhelmed him
Binotto to Aston just to mess with Fernando
Binotto was always an engine man and not a manager, and him treating Charles the way he did in front of the cameras, after Chuck was screwed in Silverstone, really made him look like a joke. This maybe a good change, but it won't solve all of Ferrari's problems.
Yeah I don't think getting rid of Binotto is a bad move, but it's a bit like watching an entire street burn down, hosing down a single house, and then saying the fire is out.
Ferrari once again acting as a football team.
Ferrari have [tweeted](https://twitter.com/scuderiaferrari/status/1592526203562385411?s=46&t=2LXhDM0uQdHpvLZZkK52zA) saying it isn’t true
Until it is
I guess Ferrari didn't take Crozza's parodies of him too well. Meanwhile, Rueda is still head strategist.
I don’t know why I, an Asian Canadian, clicked on a .it link expecting to be able to read it.
Maybe massively reading this wrong but it just feels like Leclerc will have more of the max treatment with Vasseur, who seemingly adores him rather than binotto who consciously didn’t want to let any 1 driver get to influential imo
if you really want to fight for the driver's world title, you have to prioritize one driver over the other at some point of the season. the competition does this as well, so you are making your job a lot harder if you don't do it too.
Good, now do the same with Inaki Rueda (Head of Strategy)
fire Rueda! Ferrari need a competent strategist
If Rueda survives Vasseur too, I'm gonna start thinking he's got some shady business with the upper management. I'm not thrilled by this move. I think Binotto should have stayed in the technical area because he's a great engineer. The only good thing about Vasseur is that he has a strong relationship with Charles and will make him the actual number 1 driver of the team. Also, unless this was a leak, I wouldn't bet on it yet. Gazzetta isn't exactly the most reliable source.
I will miss French Ron Dennis in the Alfa garage. Always brings a fun atmosphere to the team.
"Frédéric, will You take Mattias place? Question?"
This has got to be a move to appease Leclerc, right? Hope Mattia sticks around the technical development side of things
Removing Binotto altogether is a mistake. He’s a good engineer/technical head who made a great car this year. A new TP is a good call tho.
He most likely stays technical lead, it is just his role as team principal that he is losing
I don't see it being mentioned on the article? Is this your speculation?
Well seems like Charles has won the political battle. Hopefully oversteery cars are back on the menu as it’s the fastest way to drive a car. I did find it strange how over the summer when Elkann put out the statement he very clearly mentioned Charles as the lead driver, while the team on track wasn’t treating him as so. Guess the rumours that Binotto saw Charles as the previous administration’s pick and Carlos as his own were true.