With Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto having confirmed his resignation from the role Tuesday morning, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have both taken to social media to send the Italian a heart-warming message of gratitude.
It’s been a turbulent few years for Binotto as Ferrari’s boss, with the Italian having been at the helm of the team’s fall to the midfield and their rise back up to the front.
Binotto’s tenure as team principal has been one similar to a rollercoaster, with the side having done everything except claim a title.
It’s a World Championship that continues to elude the Maranello-based team, whose last title came back in 2008 when they won the Constructors’ crown.
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Incredibly, Binotto’s departure from Ferrari, which will take place on the 31 December, will mark the end of a 28-year journey for the Italian.
Binotto joined Ferrari in 1995, before working his way through the ranks, until he became team principal in 2019.
He took the role in the same season that Leclerc joined the side, with the Monegasque having known Binotto due to having been a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Their relationship has been tested in 2022, with all the mistakes that have occurred.
L’Equipe have even suggested recently that Leclerc and Binotto weren’t even on talking terms; however, that didn’t stop the 24-year-old thanking Binotto “for everything”.
“Thank you for everything, Mattia,” Leclerc wrote on Instagram.
“We spent four very intense years together, full of great satisfaction and also, inevitably, moments that tested us.
“My esteem and respect for you have never diminished, and we have always worked with full dedication to achieve the same goals. Good luck [with] everything.”
Sainz, of course, only joined Ferrari at the start of 2021, so only spent two years under Binotto’s leadership.
In that time, the Spaniard has claimed his first Formula 1 win after Binotto opted to sign the former McLaren driver as Sebastian Vettel’s replacement.
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The Spanish driver echoed Leclerc’s thoughts and added that it was a “pleasure to work” with the team principal, whom he thanks for the “great memories and moments”.
“Grazie Mattia,” said Sainz on social media.
“It’s been a pleasure to work alongside you to push the team and ourselves forward through thick and thin. Thanks for the great memories and moments we shared in and out of a racing track and all the best in your future endeavours.”