Former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto will not be seen in a working role within the Formula 1 paddock in 2023, following reports that he’s been paid extra by the Italians to take a year off.
The report comes from Formu1a.uno, who are under the impression that Ferrari paid Binotto extra cash to double his gardening leave from six months to a year, meaning he won’t be seen working in the paddock again until 2024 at the earliest.
According to the site, Binotto is also banned from taking up at role at either the FIA or Liberty Media, with Ferrari seemingly wanting nobody to gain from the Italian’s incredible experience and knowledge.
With that in mind, a rumoured switch to Audi would make a lot of sense, given that the German manufacturer aren’t joining the grid until 2026, when the new engine regulations are introduced.
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Binotto’s replacement, former Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur has officially started in his new role, with the Frenchman seemingly being the only change in the Italians management line-up for 2023.
Ferrari’s team director Laurent Mekies will be continuing in his role and was spotted with Vasseur on Monday, which was Vasseur’s first official day in his new job.
Vasseur is set to manage the team very differently to how Binotto led the Maranello-based outfit, with the Frenchman set to give the engineers more responsibility.
Whilst in charge of the team, Binotto personally overlooked the technical department, something Vasseur is unlikely to do.
Mekies’ role is also going to become much simpler for him, with a sporting director having been promoted to help the French engineer.
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One other big change is set to occur at Ferrari, as Simone Resta is expected to return to Maranello as the team’s chief designer for their 2024 challenger, having been sent to work as a technical director at customer-side Haas.
With many faces remaining at the team, despite Binotto’s departure, it does seem that Vasseur hasn’t been given much choice over who’ll occupy which role in 2023, something which could change looking ahead to 2024 and 2025.
Should things start to go wrong this season as they did last year, Vasseur is much more likely to implement immediate change, unlike Binotto, who was more focused on keeping the ship steady rather than making personnel tweaks.