Ferrari turmoil, Leclerc unhappy. Binotto out? Vasseur in?
F1 NewsThursday, 17 November 2022 at 09:06
Ferrari have denied that Mattia Binotto is to be replaced as team principal by Fred Vasseur from 2023, but that has hardly stopped speculation in the Italian media to continue with credible heavy hitters claiming the deal is done.
However, the news leaked this week ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi, where Binotto will be in attendance - he missed the last two races - and no doubt face a barrage of questions about his future.
Fervent denials by the Scuderia, at such times, is often a signal that something will go down, where there's smoke, there's fire. Typically, when Maranello ignore such news, then it's a BS-story, when they deny it -as this time - best take note, as we have.
When Maurizio Arrivabene was facing the axe, to allow Binotto to run the show solo, Ferrari were also in denial, until a few days later when the Marlboro Man packed his stuff as the Scuderia was not big enough for the two to run, according to Sergio Marchionne who set the template for the current management structure at Maranello.
Fast forward to the fourth year of the Binotto'a leadership, the great Italian team's woes are well documented, from a winning combination with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz getting the season off to a great start.
Ferrari has not improved under Binotto, in fact, they may have regressed since Arrivabene was axed
But little progress and the all too familiar stunted development when their rivals main Formula 1 rivals Mercedes and Red Bull ramp things up as the season progresses; thus the early season advantage when their package was the best thing on the grid, has turned into a deficit now as Red Bull and Mercedes have edged ahead.
Couple that with a long list of mistakes, bad strategy calls, pit stop blunders, unhappy drivers plus general mismanagement and you have a perfect storm, so to speak, that has led to the current situation of uncertainty, growing dissent, and turmoil at Maranello.
Up until now, Italian media have been surprisingly and uncharacteristically patient while watching Binotto turn the most successful team in the sport, into also-rans, flinging out the excuse that they are a "young team" still learning. That of the most experienced team in F1!
But now the knives are sharpened, as under Binotto Ferrari are headless and the prancing turning into a laborious trot that has both their drivers, Leclerc in particular very unhappy - reportedly refusing to speak to Binotto - adding more pressure to the team boss.
The report which emerged initially in Italy did go viral as all major F1 media outlets also latched on to it because the story has been smoking for a long time and the source is credible. And while suggestions Binotto was out the door are well off the mark according to Ferrari, the reality is that not all is well at Maranello these days aka watch this space!
Headlines on Binotto's future are ominous as Italian media start to circle above
In a long and detailed editorial on the matter, MotoriOnline reports: "Binotto delegitimized, Leclerc fed up: Ferrari is once again disunited. Binotto's management is at the end of the line: few victories, many bad moods, and yet another year zero at the door.
"The Ferrari company, accused by the world of F1 of being uninterested in the Scuderia due to the lack of effective presence, gives the idea of having been there at the window for some time.
"John Elkann at the end of 2021 publicly congratulated Antonello Coletta in charge of the Cavallino GT and Endurance programs for the successes achieved, without making any mention of the third place Constructors achieved by the F1 team. It was already the first sign of a coldness that has turned into frost for the umpteenth negative season."
Gazzetta: "Ferrari, Binotto outgoing: Vasseur on pole. Maranello, however, brakes" and adds in the report: "The turning point has been whispered for some time and now the time may have really arrived.
"With the conclusion of this championship, Mattia Binotto's cycle at the helm of Ferrari in F1 should come to an end. The team principal who replaced Maurizio Arrivabene would leave his place to the Frenchman Frederic Vasseur, his equal in the Alfa Romeo-Sauber team.
"The changeover would see the latter operating at the Gestione Sportiva from January, with the task of leading the team towards the 2023 World Championship.
Tuttosport: "Binotto away? Ferrari chaos. The Scuderia denies it but the atmosphere is hot."
Autosprint: "Who is Frédéric Vasseur, the possible replacement of Mattia Binotto at Ferrari?"
Corriere: "Binotto-Leclerc, Ferrari is high voltage. What happens now? Charles' impatience with Binotto's management is clear, if they find themselves together again in 2023, what relationship would it be? In Abu Dhabi the..."
Il Messaggio: "Mattia Binotto, troubled waters in Maranello. But Ferrari rules out his dismissal."
Interventions can be expected in due course at Ferrari
Ferrari-whisperer Leo Turrini, in his column Profondo Rosso, questions the sense of making Binotto the fall guy, he wrote: "Change who? Perhaps better to say change what.
"Very often when you lose you end up targeting only one culprit, sacrificing him. It is an understandable temptation, but it rarely proves to be right. More when it comes to Ferrari. It sure eases the pressure for a while, at least until the next expendable.
"Meanwhile, distorted rumors about changes increase, even more, when the illusion leads to feeling even more disappointed.
"Once at Maranello, they would come to their knees. Once upon a time, you'd get a Ross Brawn and give him the keys to the garage. Now it's not that easy to even bring in normal engineers. Better then to be careful about talking roughly about purges of some people.
"The same people we later fatally found placed in roles that complicated – or complicate – life for Ferrari itself.
"Binotto and the GeS pyramid know this. At the same time, I guess they know all too well that the weather is not improving certain dynamics. Therefore, interventions can be expected in due course," concludes Turrini.
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