Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has confirmed that he will miss two other events of the 2021 Formula One season in order to be able to prioritise development work on the Maranello team’s project for next championship.
Mattia Binotto did not travel with the team last weekend in Turkey for the race at Istanbul Park, as sporting director Laurent Mekies was in charge of leading the Italian side. This had been planned from an early stage in the season, Mattia Binotto confirmed , as the Ferrari boss also missed the Istanbul event in 2020.
“This was one of the races I was targeting to be back home,” he explained via a videoconference from the team’s base in Maranello. “Obviously the calendar has changed quite a lot since the very start, so I changed also plans, but certainly Turkey was one of these ones. I will skip at least another two races before the end of the season. So at the moment, I’m planning Mexico and Brazil. But obviously let’s see.” – he explained.
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The Ferrari team principal has chosen to avoid several of the more distant races in order to remain at theMaranello team’s factory during weekdays to oversee the very important development work on the successor to the SF21 car, which will be built to a largely new set of technical regulations, as Ferrari attempts to get back to the top in 2022 and challenge Mercedes and Red Bull for race wins:
“The reason is, as you may imagine, especially Mexico and Brazil overseas, it’s a long trip. While here back in Maranello there is a lot to do, really much to do. It’s an entire team to manage, both the chassis and power unit and the entire organisation,” said Binotto. “And we are, in term of 2022 development, certainly in a critical phase where time is getting closer and closer. So I’m happy to be here. From the way I’m managing the race weekends, certainly on Thursday and Friday being in the office I can certainly be more focussed on whatever is happening back here in Maranello, while Saturday and Sunday is fully dedicated to the race weekend. Certainly I’m missing the networks in the paddock but Laurent Mekies can do a great job, and I’m very happy the way he’s managing the entire team when I’m not there.” – he explained.
Mattia Binotto also discovered an added upside to not commuting to Turkey. “I’ve been told that as well the flight to Istanbul was a lot bumpy,” he said, “so I’m very happy to skip it!”
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