Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed that he had “sympathy” for Mattia Binotto after he was somewhat forced to resign from the lead role at Ferrari, with Horner believing that the Italian “done a good job”.
Binotto’s departure from Ferrari following the 2022 campaign was expected, with his future having been a dominant rumour across the last few rounds.
Former Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur was also labelled as the likely replacement before Binotto had even resigned, with rumours of him moving to Maranello having started ahead of the season finale.
Horner is intrigued whether Vasseur will change his approach now that he’s at Ferrari, or if he’ll continue to pursue what was important to him at Alfa Romeo and Sauber.
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“It has been interesting to watch the movement,” Horner told Motorsport Magazine.
“I have sympathy for Mattia, because ultimately he’d done a good job.
“Last year, that was a big step forward from where they had been, so that must be tough for him after such long service that he had given to Ferrari.
“Fred, it’ll be interesting to see if he’s still arguing about the same points that he was for Sauber in upcoming meetings! But again, he’s a very capable guy.
“So yeah, it’ll be very interesting. I’m sure they’re all very capable people. So we’ll get to see what the dynamics are at the next Formula 1 Commission meeting.
Vasseur isn’t the only managerial switch ahead of the forthcoming season, with Williams having signed Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles as Jost Capito’s replacement.
Vowles won’t officially make the switch until mid-February, giving him little time to meet his new side before pre-season testing.
Horner is intrigued to see how Vowles will get on given that he’s got no team principal experience, something which he believes could work well for the Grove-based team.
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“I don’t know James particularly well, but he’s obviously a very capable guy,” Horner said.
“Williams will have done their due diligence and research and I think it’s great that they’re giving him the chance to make that step up. So I think that can only be good news for Williams.
“And is there anything attached to that? Williams would have obviously done what’s right for them and right for their business. But only they will know what has been agreed for that early release to have happened.”