Mattia Binotto set to leave Ferrari

Italian Formula One team Ferrari have announced that their Team Principal Mattia Binotto is set to leave his post on December 31, 2022.

Binotto had joined Ferrari as an engine engineer in 1995 and was promoted to the role of Chief Technical Officer in 2016. He replaced Maurizio Arrivabene as Team Principal during the 2019 Formula One season. 

Ferrari were a front-of-the-field team in 2019 but faced challenges in 2020 and 2021, recording two winless seasons, which had put Binotto under scrutiny. With the new regulations being introduced in 2022, Ferrari were an early Championship contending team once again at the start of the 2022 season but saw their hopes fade away due to strategy errors, unreliability and also driver errors. Their shambolic 2022 Championship fight led to reports of Binotto potentially being replaced towards the end of the season, but the team had initially denied any such reports. 

Ferrari have also stated that they are currently in the process of identifying a new Team Principal, a decision that is to be finalised in the new year.

Speaking about his departure, Mattia Binotto commented:

“With the regret that this entails, I decided to conclude my collaboration with Ferrari. I leave a company that I love, of which I have been a member for 28 years, with the serenity that comes from the belief that I have made every effort to achieve the set goals. I leave a team united and growing. A strong team, ready, I am sure, to obtain the maximum goals, to which I wish all the best for the future. I think it is right to take this step, however difficult a decision it was for me. I thank all the people of Sports Management who shared this path with me, made of difficulties but also of great satisfaction.“

Benedetto Vigna, Chief Executive Officer, Ferrari, added:

“I would like to thank Mattia for his numerous and fundamental contributions in the past 28 years in Ferrari, and in particular for his guide who led the team to be competitive again last season. Thanks to this, we are in a strong position to renew our commitment, first of all for our incredible fans all over the world, to win the most important motorsport trophy. All of us at the Scuderia and in the wider Ferrari community wish Mattia all the best for the future.“

Although there are no clear favourites as to who will replace Binotto, Alfa Romeo’s Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur has been linked with the role.