Ferrari are a team in turmoil at the moment, currently without a team principal after the resignation of Mattia Binotto and on a title drought since 2008.
The Scuderia had released a statement in support of Binotto following a below par season, which saw the team comprehensively beaten by Max Verstappen and Red Bull in both championships, only for the Swiss to resign days later.
The team principal role at Ferrari has become somewhat of a poison chalice in recent times, and it seems as if this opinion is shared by many in the paddock, as McLaren’s Andreas Seidl and Red Bull’s Christian Horner have been quick to reject any invitation from Ferrari.
The obvious and most likely candidate for the role was Alfa Romeo’s Fred Vasseur, who could easily make the set-up from Ferrari’s affiliate team without too many complications.
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However, with the Audi project on the horizon, it has been suggested by German reports that Vasseur has turned down the chance to replace Binotto at Ferrari, choosing to stay where he is for the time being.
Vasseur’s decision leaves Ferrari without an obvious candidate to replace their departing team principal, and former president of the team Luca di Montezemolo has expressed is concern over his former team’s situation.
“I’m sorry about the situation at Ferrari and I’m worried,” said the Italian.
“In these moments, since I really care about Ferrari, I prefer not to comment other than to note that it seems to me to be a company without a leader.”
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It has been understandably suggested that Ferrari are not looking to promote from within, rather preferring to appoint an external candidate to replace Binotto, however with their advances being rejected by their ideal targets, Ferrari are running out of options.
Laurent Mekies would be the clear choice should the Scuderia be forced to promote from within, with Mekies serving as Binotto’s assistant and therefore having a strong understanding of the way Ferrari works and what possibly went wrong in 2022.
Binotto continues to defend his team’s poor performance last season, claiming that it was never in their plan to challenge for the championship in the first year of the new regulations, so a second-place finish should be seen as a success.