Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto appears to be very much on borrowed time, following a substantial report on Italian TV that the boss is set for the sack after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The season finale this weekend will mark the end of a season full of promise for Ferrari, but one that has ultimately been a disappointment.
There is no doubt that the side built a brilliant car; however, it had one enormous flaw; it had the reliability of a British Prime Minister!
Ferrari’s power unit was both brilliant and woeful at the same time, with it being the fastest and least reliable, although, Renault have given the Scuderia a run for their money in that department.
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When the engine hasn’t gone bang, though, for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, the team has still slipped up through their own accord.
Whilst Leclerc and Sainz have been guilty of a few driver errors in 2022, the Maranello-based team’s strategic planning has been questionable at best, and that’s being polite!
Both drivers have been let down by Ferrari’s strategies, with Leclerc having lost multiple victories as a result.
Leclerc was the victim of a strategic error only last weekend, after the Italians fitted the 24-year-old with Intermediate tyres for Q3, despite the track being predominantly dry.
All the errors appear to have come at the expense of Binotto’s job, with La Gazzetta dello Sport announcing that he is being replaced by Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur.
Ferrari denied that such a thing had been decided and released a statement as a result.
“Ferrari states that these rumours are totally without foundation,” the team said in a media statement.
Vasseur was supposedly “sounded out” by Ferrari’s president during the summer; however, McLaren boss Andreas Seidl is also reportedly a contender for the top Ferrari job.
He had “already been sounded out by Elkann last summer”, two correspondents from La Gazzetta dello Sport said.
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“Vasseur has a consolidated relationship with the top management of the Stellantis group, built in these years of managing Sauber – branded Alfa Romeo,” the Gazzetta report added.
“He is a managerial turning point, given his resume as a true racing man with a past of also managing many teams in the minor leagues.”
Should Vasseur replace Binotto, then it would see Leclerc being reunited with his first F1 boss, with the Monegasque having driven for Alfa Romeo in 2018.