Mattia Binotto has had his critics during the 2022 season, with decisions made by his Ferrari team essentially putting themselves out of title contention, allowing Red Bull to cruise to the constructors’ championship.
Charles Leclerc has been very critical of Ferrari’s tendency to shoot themselves in the foot over the course of the season, with incorrect strategy calls and indecisiveness costing the Monegasque driver a chance of securing his first ever drivers’ championship.
Fans of Ferrari have been very vocal in their discontent for Binotto’s leadership of the team, and despite the team issuing a statement of support for their team principal, the Swiss has now resigned from his role at Ferrari.
Binotto has explained that his team’s shortcomings were down to Ferrari being out developed by Red Bull, claiming that the energy drink giants had a ‘clearer path’.
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“In terms of development, Red Bull had a clear route which was the weight of the car, which was not our case, and they knew what to tackle to get the performance out of the car itself,” explained the Swiss.
“For us, it was more complicated because it was really through aero developments and the aero concept.”
The departing team principal has fired a parting shot at Ferrari, suggesting that only time will tell whether his decision to focus Ferrari’s attention on their 2023 car was the right decision.
“We stopped very early, not only by choice but for expenditure reasons,” explained Binotto.
“Have we made the right choice in stopping so early in terms of priority? I don’t know.
“Only ’23 can tell us if that was the right choice or not.”
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It is currently unclear who will replace Binotto at Ferrari, as the team are rumoured to favour hiring from the outside, rather than promoting from within.
Recent reports have claimed that the Ferrari’s favoured replacement, Fred Vasseur of Alfa Romeo, has turned down the opportunity to step up to Ferrari, as have Christian Horner and Andreas Seidl.
Binotto is reportedly a target for Audi, as they look for a team principal to lead their project ahead of their entry to Formula 1 in 2026, with the Swiss likely to accept the opportunity to spearhead such a promising project.