Norbert Haug praises Mattia Binotto for staying "calm, composed and explaining everything"

Norbert Haug praises Mattia Binotto for staying “calm, composed and explaining everything”. Norbert Haug praises Mattia Binotto.

The image of Norbert Haug has been known to Formula 1 fans since the 1990s, when he brought the Mercedes brand closer to the top category of motorsport in his role as vice president of Mercedes-Benz motorsport activity. First the partnership with Sauber and then the winning one with the silver colored McLaren, fierce rival of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari with Mika Hakkinen capable of winning two titles, then accompanied by Lewis Hamilton title in 2008 against Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. In short, Norbert Haug is certainly a person who has a great deal of knowledge in the world of Formula 1. Despite being almost 70, he is now woring on the production of cars and systems dedicated to disabled people.

But the German is also a journalist and spoke to the Sport1 broadcaster about the recent French Grand Prix: “Charles Leclerc’s retirement was like a punch in the stomach. Today his distance from Verstappen has practically doubled. If he were to win ten races and Verstappen were to finish second ten times, he would win the title by a very small margin and that shows how difficult it is now. Beating the Dutchman on his own will be very difficult. His mistake was unusual, it’s unusual to see the race leader have an accident like that, it happened a few times over the years “.

Norbert Haug then added: “Charles Leclerc turned out to be Red Bull’s best friend, and in general the team made a lot of mistakes this season. Thinking about Carlos Sainz’s engine failure, in France they could have scored a double win, or 43 points and instead they only took home ten.” – he added.

Finally Norbert Haug spoke positively about the Ferrari team principal: “For me it is really admirable to see Mattia Binotto always explaining everything. He is calm and composed and the way he describes the whole thing is truly amazing. He never loses his temper, it’s a very positive quality.” – the former vice president of Mercedes-Benz motorsport activity concluded.