Binotto: When I came to Sauber, there were no plans

Binotto was shown the doors of Maranello at the end of the 2022 F1 season after Ferrari failed to win the championship despite having a strong start with their first single-seater under the ground effect aero rules.

After spending over a year away and with speculation linking him to Alpine at some point, Binotto made his return to the top flight with Sauber/Audi, replacing Andreas Seidl at the helm with a dual function of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technical Officer at the same time.

But the former Ferrari boss was not happy in the state in which he found the team who finished last in the 2024 F1 constructors' championship, having scored only four points courtesy of Zhou Guanyu's eighth-place finish in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.

Binotto revealed that the former management was focused on 2026, the year when Audi will formally enter F1 with their own power unit and the team becomes officially Audi, as new power unit and chassis regulations will debut.

He also claimed that approach was wrong, and speaking to Motorsport.com, he said: "When I came in there was not only zero points, but really even no plans nor developments. And that's what concerned me the most.

"Everything was only focused on '26, but that was for me somehow a problem because I think that a team needs always to fight on track.

"It's only by fighting, competing on track, that you can understand how good you're doing and if whatever you're doing is going the right direction.

"You need to understand performance. You need to understand weaknesses and strengths, and you need as well to address them. And that's the real know-how of a team," Binotto maintained.

The new Sauber/Audi boss admitted finishing tenth was disappointing despite the four points scored at the end of the season but is encouraged that a direction has been set for 2025.

"When I joined in August, really, it was like a team that was almost frozen," he said. "So while making sure that we had the proper plans in our journey to become a top team in the future, we really needed to boost the team for improvement and possibly already during the current season.

"How important the current season was was not only about not finishing with zero points, because finishing 10th with zero or 10th with four points does not change much.

"But it was more for us to make sure that we have defined the proper direction of development for next season as well – and being energized through the wintertime.

"Today, I can see a team that is more convinced on what's required, what's necessary for next season, and hopefully we can further develop the current car," Binotto concluded.

Audi's F1 project has been faced with financial issues as well due to those their mother company Volkswagen has been going through as well, which prompted a stake sale to Qatar's investment authority.