Mercedes boss Toto Wolff feels that Mattia Binotto, who will leave the Maranello team at the end of 2022, “held on” to his Ferrari team principal longer than the Austrian motorsport executive expected.
After two weeks marked by a lot of speculation and rumours, last week Scuderia Ferrari officially confirmed that Mattia Binotto would end his time in charge of the Ferrari Racing Department, a role he has held since been promoted from chief technical officer at the start of the 2019 Formula 1 season.
Mattia Binotto leaves Scuderia Ferrari at the end of a Formula 1 campaign in which the Italian side took four wins, but due to a series of reliability issues, poor strategy decisions and losing the development battle with Red Bull, was not able to challenge the Austrian side in the fight for the World Championship.
As the Maranello team is still evaluating the ideal option for his successor, Mercedes’ boss Toto Wolff, a strong personality whose job has never been under threat during his time in the sport, was asked about the soon to be former Ferrari man and pointed out that Mattia Binotto had “held on” as Ferrari team principal longer than he had thought he would.
“Mattia and I had our moments, it’s no secret over these many years,” Toto Wolff said in a discussion for the Beyond the Grid podcast.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
“But in a way we consolidated that in 2022, we were in a much better place. It was always clear that he was under tremendous pressure. Being a team principal at Ferrari, you better have a good contract for your exit. And now probably the unavoidable happened. But he held on to it longer than I thought.” – Toto Wolff said.
The Mercedes man is aware that there is always more pressure on a Maranello team principal and admitted that when you represent Ferrari, “you’re representing the whole country. They ride you up, they ride you down, but with brutality. So certainly team principal of Ferrari [there is more pressure], probably as an Italian even more, because as a foreigner you just don’t read the news. But as an Italian, clearly you are in the firing line.” – the Austrian continued.
A few days ago, Red Bull boss Christian Horner admitted to not being interested in moving to Ferrari. Toto Wolff also shares this view but at the same time he pointed out that if he had been approached by the Italian side before he signed for Mercedes, it would have been very difficult to say no to Ferrari.
“Everybody who says he wouldn’t have been interested in being team principal of Ferrari just simply doesn’t tell the truth. I have to pinch myself that Daimler gave me the opportunity of becoming a managing partner and co-shareholder. It’s something that I feel tremendously proud of. But equally if Ferrari would have come around the corner, miraculously offered me such a position, it would have been the same.” – the Mercedes boss concluded.
Leave a Reply