With Mattia Binotto’s days as Ferrari team principal being numbered, the Scuderia are reportedly set to announce who will lead the team next season before Christmas, despite previous rumours that nothing would be said until the New Year.
Having handed in his resignation, Binotto will officially depart Ferrari on the last day of December, with his replacement likely to start from 1st January 2023.
Several names have been linked to the role; however, Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur is expected to be announced as the Italians new team principal, according to Italian specialist publications.
The likes of McLaren boss Andreas Seidl and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner have also been linked to the rule but have both stated their commitment to their current side.
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McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown also recently admitted that Seidl isn’t “going anywhere”, before adding that he thought Binotto was doing a “pretty good job”.
“I don’t know if the rumours are true, but I do know he’s not going anywhere,” Brown said.
“I don’t know the inner workings at Ferrari, but it seemed to me that Mattia was doing a pretty good job.”
Even if Binotto didn’t resign, it was anticipated that he’d still be removed from the team principal role, something that many ex-drivers don’t understand.
One of them being ex-Ferrari driver and 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti, who has questioned if replacing Binotto is “really necessary”.
“Was it really necessary to change the man at the top?” Andretti told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I’d have to know more about it before making an informed judgement. What is clear to me is that there needs to be a change in strategy, but when you have such a fast car, you don’t need to be drastic about it.
“It is true that we saw certain stupidities and I don’t know who was responsible for that. When I think about how Leclerc was sent onto the track in Brazil with intermediates – mamma mia!”
Andretti isn’t the only person who thinks Binotto should be staying as Ferrari’s team principal, with former Ferrari boss Cesare Fiorio also believing “he should have stayed”.
“I have a positive opinion of Binotto and I think he should have stayed,” Fiorio told Italy’s Autosprint.
“In the F1-75, he has put a competitive and advanced machine on the asphalt.
“He is a very good engineer, but as a team principal he still needed some experience. But I do believe that he was doing it better and better over time.
“I would have found a way to keep Binotto on the team.
“On a technical level, he really achieved the goals.”
The Maranello ship is in desperate need of being steadied, and there is no guarantee that Vasseur will accomplish that.
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According to some rumours, Charles Leclerc’s camp aren’t happy that Vasseur is set to be signed by Ferrari, a development that’ll be fascinating to keep an eye on.
Should the Frenchman be Ferrari’s new man, though, then Fiorio is just pleased that he “has a good resume”.
“He’s had success in other classes, so at least he has a good resume,” added Fiorio.