Mattia Binotto’s sacking as Ferrari’s team principal is expected any time, with attention now turning as to who could replace the Italian who’s held the role for four years.
Reports began to spread prior to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that Binotto was set to be booted from his role; however, Ferrari released an official statement denying such speculation.
Whilst it appears that the reports from last week are in fact true, Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur has been tipped as the next boss of the Maranello-based team, due to his relationship with both the Scuderia and star driver Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc was managed by Vasseur in 2018, when the Frenchman was the Monegasque driver’s team principal.
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He was asked at the Yas Marina Circuit if the reports were true during the season finale, and it’s safe to say he didn’t deny it.
“I’m not going to say anything about it, you’ll find out soon enough,” Vasseur told reporters.
Whilst he didn’t openly say that the reports were correct, his wording does suggest that Vasseur is going to become the Scuderia’s next team principal, meaning Ferrari will be gaining an extremely experienced head.
Binotto has reportedly had enough of Ferrari president John Elkann, who in return is believed to be lacking in trust for the current boss.
The Italian admitted he was “relaxed” about the speculation surrounding his future and that under his reign in 2022 they “achieved” their “main objective”.
“The reason why I’m relaxed is that I always have open, frank and constructive discussions with my bosses, with my chairman, not only on the short-term but on the medium and the long-term,” Binotto said.
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“If I look back at the season – yes, we had a few ups and downs, we are not the best yet, the fastest car on track – but I think we achieved our main objective, which was to be back, to be competitive in that new era of the 2022 cars.”
Should Binotto end up remaining with Ferrari, something there appears to be absolutely zero chance of happening, then the Italian wants the team to focus on their “weaknesses” ahead of 2023.
“Yes, there are still a lot of things we need to progress, weaknesses have been shown, but we will try to address them. Everyone back at the factory is focused on 2023, trying to improve… I’m relaxed – more than that I’m really focused on what we need to do. I’m concentrated with the team.”