Ex-Scuderia Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto was aware that he would leave the Maranello team after almost three decades, but the Italian manager still showed his commitment to the Ferrari cause, giving his replacement Fred Vasseur some important advice.
Mattia Binotto was responsible for Ferrari returning to winning ways last season, as the Italian side secured four race victories.
However, those results were not at all enough to save his seat at the top of the Ferrari Racing Division: the Maranello team fell behind rivals Red Bull due a combination of poor strategic calls from Maranello pit wall and power unit technical failures, which overshadowed the solid pace of the F1-75 and the four wins. This determined Mattia Binotto to leave the team at the end of the 2022 Formula One championship, as two weeks later Fres Vasseur was officially confirmed by Ferrari as his replacement.
Mattia Binotto had been working for Scuderia Ferrari for 28 years before his exit and had a key role in the power unit department even in the successful period of Michael Schumacher in the early 2000s.
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Based on the agreement between Mattia Binotto and Scuderia Ferrari, the Italian manager will have to take a gardening leave of about one year, which means that he will not be able to work for other teams in the following months.
However if there is someone who is aware of the politics and huge pressure of being in charge of the Ferrari Racing Division, that man is Mattia Binotto. As Frederic Vasseur settles into arguably Formula 1’s most difficult job, the 56-year-old Italian manager wanted to provide some details and insight to his successor.
“The process was crystal clear, even if we had some rumours into the press before Abu Dhabi or during Abu Dhabi, we didn’t discuss before. We had the first discussion the week after Abu Dhabi and it was very, very quick as a process.” – Frederic Vasseur explained.
“And then I had a call with Mattia, and I even met Mattia during the handover and we had a one-to-one discussion. It was thanks to Mattia for this because I appreciated the move from Mattia to stay, to wait for me, to discuss together, [it] was really appreciated from my side.” – the Frenchman pointed out.
As Fred Vasseur hopes to be able to make some behind-the-scenes changes, improved communication clear-up on the pit wall and power unit reliability updates, the Maranello team is confident it will give its two drivers the possibility to fight for the world championship in 2023.
The historic Ferrari cars were bowled over by Mercedes’ dominant era just like the rest of the competitors, with Ferrari able to challenge for the title in 2018, when Sebastian Vettel was leading the standings mid-way through the season.
Scuderia Ferrari is therefore looking for its first Drivers’ title since Kimi Raikkonen won in 2007. That year was Jean Todt’s final season as team boss after the French manager oversaw the Maranello team’s last great period.
Fred Vasseur is now Ferrari’s first French team principal since Jean Todt.
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