Last month, it was suddenly confirmed four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel would be departing the Scuderia after six seasons at the end of 2020, with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz signed as his replacement a few days later. But while most have pointed to the rise of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel’s poor form last year as key in their agreement to part ways, the Italian side’s Team Principal Mattia Binotto revealed otherwise.
“Without a doubt, for many reasons,” he explained for Spain’s Marca initially on whether splitting with the German was a difficult call – “Ferrari love Sebastian as a driver and as a person as he is part of our team and our project, so it is never an easy decision. He was our first option and then the coronavirus pandemic came, a situation that has changed many things, from the regulations to the budget cap. There are things that have changed the situation, with the new car postponed to 2022. We had to make internal reviews and that’s what we did.”- the Ferrari boss explained.
The Italian team and the German driver will therefore not renew the contract expiring at the end of 2020. The four-time world champion will now have to finish this championship, already aware that it will be the last alongside the Maranello team, a strange situation that may suggest Sebastian Vettel could adopt a selfish behavior or a tendency to live the year as a separate man in Ferrari.
Mattia Binotto wanted to clear the field of misunderstandings and made it clear that he expected a high performance season from Sebastian Vettel in 2020: “Sebastian is a great person, a great professional with a sense of responsibility, and I am sure he will want to end his experience in Ferrari in a good position, getting the most for the team, so I don’t expect negative behavior on his part”. – the Ferrari boss concluded.
Leave a Reply