New reports have emerged in the Italian media claiming Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto is on the verge of leaving the team.
It was earlier reported that Mattia Binotto will lose his position at the top of the Scuderia, with Alfa Romeo team boss Frederic Vasseur being lined up as a replacement by Ferrari chairman John Elkann.
Ferrari at the time issued a statement denying the reports, describing the rumours as being “totally without foundations” while Binotto told the media in Abu Dhabi that he is “relaxed” about his future.
However, a new report in the Corriere della Sera claimed today that the of announcing Binotto’s exit from Maranello will happen in a matter of hours.
No more trust from Elkann
The report claims that the separation between Binotto and the fabled Formula 1 team is going ahead due to “the lack of confidence from John Elkann”, and that the parties are just in the process of finalizing the terms of the separation.
The report further said: “Binotto, who has a contract expiring at the end of 2023 , had told some close friends during the last GP in Abu Dhabi that he was too tired to carry on his work in critical conditions within the company.”
It added: “It is impossible to communicate with the team principal who would have decided to leave the scene in the face of a persistent lack of trust on the part of the president John Elkann , with whom relations have been cold for a long time.”
The report also claimed that Frederic Vasseur remains the most like candidate to replace Binotto, while discussion with McLaren’s Andreas Seidl did not materialize, the German refusing the offer.
Binotto’s exit reports come on the back of a disappointing season by the team in 2022, who despite having started with arguably the fastest car on the grid, failed to deliver the Title after a series of strategy errors, reliability, not mention driver errors as well.