Montezemolo: “Binotto is a great technical director, but managing Ferrari is different”. Montezemolo on Mattia Binotto.

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was one of the most successful men in the history of Ferrari, first as head of the Squadra Corse in the 70s at the time of Niki Lauda and then as President starting from 1991.

Montezemolo started from scratch at the beginning of the years 1990s and after several years of difficulty he got the team on the right path with the arrival of Michael Schumacher in 1996 and the construction piece by piece of a team with a well-defined chain of command, creating the foundations of the winning cycle with the Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn triad from 2000 to 2004. The last titles came in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen (Drivers) and in 2008 (when Ferrari won the Constructors championship)

Ferrari has not won anything since that moment. In an interview for the sports daily newspaper L’Equipe, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo has analyzed from his point of view what is not working in the Maranello team. Here are some excerpts.

The fact that President (John Elkann) and the CEO (Benedetto Vigna) are not very close to the F1 team.
“Formula One is very special. Just because you’ve been a good manager or in marketing doesn’t mean you will be as good in F1. In this sport you need passion and dedication. You have to be there every day and every evening. You have to do a lot of politics to support your team, because others do. You have to be strong to resist and keep your men”.

The figure of Mattia Binotto and the repeated errors made by Ferrari in 2022
“Mistakes? In my day we did them too, as did Mercedes and Red Bull. It’s just that Ferrari is much more exposed to the media. And we do not forgive Ferrari anything because it is Ferrari. Mattia Binotto has the intelligence to always protect his team. It is he who takes the bullets rather than exposing his men. You need to understand why these errors occurred and correct them. Binotto is an excellent technical director, but managing the Ferrari Racing Department is different.”

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“Is there a need to change the team principal? It is not for me to say. Ferrari is part of the Italian flag. It is a national monument. Before getting Jean Todt in 1993, I thought about it for a long time, at the moment it was a choice that made a lot of noise in the media. If I were to find a new boss, I would look everywhere and not just in Formula 1. By looking for him at Red Bull or Mercedes, the issue would not be resolved. We need to reinvent ourselves, create a new dynamic. Let’s not forget that Ferrari has just built a very, very competitive car. And a single person doesn’t win championships. It’s a team sport”.

The driver hierarchies
“I prefer not to talk about the controversy because I have a different opinion on the matter. At the time of Michael (Schumacher) I wanted a very strong driver and a second driver.” – Luca Cordero di Montezemolo concluded.